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TALES 



AMERICAN HISTORY, 

CHIEFLY RELATING TO THE 

CONaUEST 



MEXICO AND PERU. 

Br 
HERNANDO CORTEZ 8c FRANCISCO PIZARRO 

TO WHICH ARE ADDED 

SOME FACTS ILLUSTRATIVE 



PRESENT STATE OF THOSE COUNTRIES. 

BY THE AUTHOR OP " AMERICAN POPULAR LKSSONS.'* 

styled greet ronqtierors, 



Destroyers righllier called, and plagues cf : 




NEW- YORK : 

PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM BURGESS, 

NO. 97, FULTON- STREET. 
M.DCrC. XXXII 



[Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 
1831, by William Burgess in the Clerk's Office of the Dis- 
trict Court of the United States, for the Southern District of 
New- York.] 



/ 



??'^ 



V- 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Page 

Bartholomew Diaz discovers the Cape of Good 
Hope — Gama prosecutes further discoveries, 
and proceeds to India by the Cape of Good 
Hope — Camoens celebrates de Gama — Colum- 
bus and de Gama true benefactors of mankind — ■ 
Cabral discovers Brazil — Useful industry com- 
mences in Hispaniola — Fate of the Indians, and 
commencement of negro slavery in the West 
Indies — Cuba ascertained to be an Island, and 
Yucatan discovered — Diego Columbus obtains 
the viceroyaliy in America — Ojeda andNicuessa 
commence settlements on the Continent — Suc- 
ceeded by Balboa — Balboa discovers the South- 
ern Ocean — Is supplanted in his government, 
and afterwards executed - - - _ 9 

CHAPTER n. 

Indians diminish in numbers — Diego Velasquez 
' governor of Cuba — Hatuey — Cruel treatment 
of Hatuey — Florida discovered — Reception of 
Cordova at Yucatan — Expedition of Grijalva — 
New Spain — Progress of the Spanish discove- 
ries in twenty- six years — Habits of mind with 
which young persons should read history—Cortez 
— His early history — Engages with Velasquez — 
Follows the course of Grijalva — Reaches New 
Spain — Montezuma, King of Mexico, receives 
intelligence of the landing of the Spaniards— Is 
disturbed at the news — Sends messengers and 
presents toCortez — Marina — Her excellent cha- 
racter -------- 21 



IV CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

Pago 
Cortez receives the governors of two of the 
Mexican provinces, and their presents — The 
Spaniards learn that liuman sacrifices are per- 
mitted by the Mexicans — Envoys sent from 
the Totonacas — Quarrels in states offer them a 
prey to ambitious arbiters of their differences 
— Cortez invited to Chempoalla — Makes regu- 
lations for the government of his followers — 
Proceeds to Chempoalla — Is respectfully re- 
ceived — The Chempoallese complain of the ty- 
ranny of Montezuma — Cortez encourages their 
discontents — Counsels them to refuse to pay 
tribute to Montezuma — They imprison the 
Mexican collectors of tribute — Cortez sets them 
free 34 

CHAPTER IV. 

Cortez lays the foundation of Vera Cruz — The 
Totonacas offer an army to Cortez which 
should assist the Spaniards in their projects — 
Cortez endeavours to make the Chempoallese 
'-eceive Christianity — They permit the image of 
the Virgin to be placed in one of their temples 
—Cortez writes to the Emperor Charles — 
Breaks up his ships — Cortez proceeds in the 
interior — Demands gold of Olintet, lord of 
Xocotla — Tlascala, an independent republic — 
Interesting account of the Tlascalans — Tlas- 
calans and Spaniards proceed to hostilities — 
The latter conquer — Peace made — The Spa- 
niards enter Tlascala - - - - 47 

CHAPTER V. 

Cortez endeavours to instruct the Tlascalans in the 
Christian doctrines — Proceeds to Cholula — 
Cholula — Treacherous designs of the Cholulans 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

discovered to the Spaniards — -Vengeance of 
Cortez — Advances to Tezcuco — The King of 
Tezcuco comes forth to meet Cortez — City of 
Cuitlahuac - - - - - 60 

CHAPTER VI. 

The kingdom of Mexico — Its 'extent — Capital 
and principal lakes — Ancestors of the Mexicans 
— Foundation of the city of Mexico — Disaffec- 
tion in Mexico to the government of Monte- 
zuma — Montezuma — His mode of Ufe, his court, 
&c. — Religion — Arts — Political institutions — ■ 
Education — Public amusements — Trade — Mo- 
ney — Accommodations for travellers in Mexico 
— Introduction of Catholic doctrines - - 70 

CHAPTER VII. 

Cortez enters Mexico — Montezuma and Cortez 
treat each otherwith mutual respect — Spaniards 
hospitably treated in Mexico — Cortez seeks 
a quarrel with Montezuma — Montezuma im- 
prisoned — Mexicans throv/n into great distr-^ss 
iDy the imprisonment of their monarch — Ve- 
lasquez despatches from Cuba a military force to 
intercept the plans of Cortez — Cortez defeats 
the detachment sent against him by Velasquez, 95 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Mexico and the neighbouring cities — Tributaries 
of the King of Mexico yield to Cortez — Quetla- 
vaca succeeds Montezuma — Cortez commences 
and carries on the siege of Mexico — The In- 
dians defend themselves vigorously — They yield 
at length — Guatamozin surrenders hirnself— 
The Mexican empire is gradually subdued — 
The siege of Mexico compared with the siege 
of Jerusalem — The Spanish conquerors not 



y\ CONTENTS. 



Page 
governed by Christian principles — Modern 
ideas of true glory more rational and just than 
those of antiquity - - - - -117 

CHAPTER IX. 

Cortez interrupted in his projects by Fonseca — 
He proceeds to establish the Spanish dominion 
m New Spain — Use of exhibiting bad examples 
— Indians suffer from the tyranny of the Spa- 
niards — The Spaniards also suffer many hard- 
ships — Cortez repairs to Spain — A viceroy 
of New Spain is appointed — Cortez dies — 
Comparison between Cortez and Columbus - 181 

CHAPTER X. 

Form of government similar, all over Spanish 
America — Tenure of property in the Spanish 
Colonies — Impolitic restrictions laid upon trade 
— Bad consequence of the restrictions — Eccle- 
siastical establishment in New Spain— Classes 
in society — Labourers — Provisions for the sujj- 
port of government - - - - 140 

CHAPTER XL 

Government of viceroys — Their number — Char- 
acter, and the public feeling concerning them 
— Meaning of political liberty — Ignorance and 
poverty prevalent in New Spain — The Colo- 
nists become disaffected to the Spanish govern- 
ment — Great estates, and opulence of proprie- 
tors — Unhappy moral state of New Spain — 
Political discords in Old Spain, offer an oppor- 
tunity for the discontented in the colonies to 
emancipate themselves — Buonaparte's aggres- 
sions in Spain — Iturrigaray — Royalists and 
Patriots — Hidalgo — His enterprises and death 



CONTENTS. VU 



Page 
— Constitution framed by the Patriots — More- 
los and Metamoros — Their projects and end — 
General Mina— Spanish Cortes— Ferdinand VIT. 
— Mina's exploits in Spain — He is made pri- 
soner in France, but afterwards set at hberty — 
He goes to England — Proceeds to the United 
States — Lands in Mexico — Attaches to himself 
followers — Advances to the interior — Torres — 
His character — Horrors of the siege of Som- 
brero — Mina's defeat — Don Mariano Herrara 
— Mina taken prisoner by royalists — He is shot 
— Misuse of Mina's talents — Iturbide — His 
plan of government — Its administration — Itur- 
bide sent to Europe — Returns to Mexico and 
is executed - - - - - 147 

CHAPTER XII. 

Physical features of countries as well as political 
history, desirable to be known — Creoles and 
Spaniards hate each other — Spaniards banished 
by the Mexican Congress — Catholic religion 
universal in Mexico — Principal cities of Mexi- 
co — Vera Cruz — Puebla andXalapa — Creoles 
in Mexico — Their ignorance, superstition, and 
public amusements — Cathedral of Puebla — Py- 
ramid of Cholula — Volcanoes — City of Mexico 
— Houses — Churches — Public buildings — Pub- 
lic walks — Indians — Their villages — Manufac- 
tures — Manners and habitations — Curiosities 
in Mexico — Monks — Tezcuco — Oturuba — 
Destruction of Mexican monuments — Customs 
of the Provinces — Village of St. Miguel - 176 

CHAPTER Xm. 

Vaquis and Opates — Banderas — His exploits 
and character — Spanish settlers — A Spanish 
neat-herd - - - _ _ 205 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER XIV. 



Page 



Retrospective view of Spanish discoveries — Bal- 
boa, and the Indian Comagre — Pizarro - 21 S 

CHAPTER XV. 

Settlement of Panama — Projects of Pizarro, Al- 
magro, and de Luque — Peru — Ohstacles to the 
progress of Pizarro's plans — Pizarro, not dis- 
heartened, proceeds to Spain — The Ernperor 
offers conditions to Pizarro — Pizarro goes to 
Peru — Peruvian history — The Incas — The 
sovereigns of Peru engaged in civil war- 
Pizarro avails himself of the civil war to make 
the conquest of Peru - - - - 221 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Pizarro reaches Coxamalca — The Inca visits 
Pizarro — Is taken prisoner, and afterwards 
murdered — Pizarro acquires immense wealth 
— Almagro executed — Pizarro is murdered — 
Great confusion prevails in Peru — The em- 
peror sends out a viceroy — He is killed — Gas- 
ca is sent out from Spain — Defeats Gonzalo 
Pizarro— Composes all discords, and returns to 
Spain — Untimely death of the Pizarros — The 
end 231 



TALES 



AMERICAN HISTORY. 



CHAPTER I. 

In the history of Columbus it was related that the 
Portuguese nation, for several years previous to the 
discovery of America, had been much interested in 
seeking a passage to India, and that the king of 
Portugal, when he learned what Columbus had 
accomphshed, was vexed that he had not the honour 
of being the patron of that great man. John II. of 
Portugal, however, had entrusted a small fleet to 
one Bartholomew Diaz, and that navigator had dis- 
covered the southern extremity of Africa. 

When Diaz arrived at the last limit of South 
Africa, and beheld the ocean beyond it, he was con- 
vinced that by proceeding he should make some 
more important discovery ; but he had been absent 
from Lisbon sixteen months, his ships were in a 
shattered condition, and his men entreated that they 
might return to Portugal. For these reasons, Diaz, 
being the first navigator who is known to have ex- 
plored the whole western coast of Africa, sailed for 



10 CAPE OP GOOD HOPE 

Portugal, where he arrived safely, and gave the king 
information that he had reached a promontory which 
formed the extreme southern point of the eastern 
continent. This promontory is the Cape of Good 
Hope. 

Emanuel, the successor of king John on the 
throne of Portugal, determined that his people should 
pass beyond the Cape ; and in order to prosecute 
further discoveries, he fitted out vessels under Vasco 
de Gama, a man of much hardihood and prudence. 
Gama departed from Lisbon on the ninth of July, 
A. D. 1497, and having proceeded south four 
months, he passed the Cape, and advanced in a north 
easterly direction. Gama thus entered the Indian 
ocean, having coasted all along Africa, from the 
river Senegal to the country of Zanquebar ; and in 
all these countries, wherever he went ashore, he saw 
men very different from Europeans. Those on the 
coast of Guinea, and of southern Africa, were sa- 
vages, but the ports north of Mozambique exhibited 
civilized men — persons who knew how to read and 
write, who were instructed in the Mahommedan reli- 
gion, and who owned ships, and carried on trade 
with the neighbouring countries of Asia. At one 
of the African ports, Gama procured a Mahom- 
medan pilot, and proceeded to Calecut, on the coast 
of Malabar, where he landed May 22d, 1498. 

The Portuguese celebrate this achievement of 
Gama as the greatest maritime exploit of their nation. 
It opened a new road from Europe to India; and 
from that day to this, innumerable ships from Euro- 
pean countries have traversed the path which the 
Portuguese navigator first ascertained, and have 
conveyed with facility the productions of India to the 
people of Europe. 

Caraoens, an eminent Portuguese poet, composed 



DISCOVERED BY DE GAMA. 11 

a poem upon this discovery ; it is called the Lusiad, 
and has been translated into English. De Gama's 
fleet, anchoring in the harbour of Mozambique, is 
thus described in the Lusiad : 

" The moon, full-orbed, forsakes her watery cave, 

And lifts her lovely head above the wave ; 

The snowy splendours of her modest ray 

Stream o'er the dashing waves, and glistening play: 

Around her, shining on the heaven's arched brow, 

Unnumbered stars, enclosed in azure, glow, 

Thick as the dewdrops on the April dawn, 

Or May-flowers crowding on the dewy lawn. 

The canvass whitens in the silver beam, 

And with a mild pale red the pendants gleam ; 

The mast's tall shadows tremble o'er the deep, , 

The peaceful lines a holy silence keep ; 

The watchman's carol, echoed from the prows, 

Alone, at times, awakes the still repose." 

MickWs translation. 

De Gama, after his return voyage, landed at Lis- 
bon, September 14th, 1499, and related his adven- 
tures to his countrymen. 

The fifteenth century is the most brilliant period 
of modern history. The achievements of military 
conquerors are nothing in comparison with those of 
Columbus or De Gama. Armies may find know- 
ledge in the countries they conquer, as the Romans 
found arts and literature in Greece, and began to 
improve themselves after they had taken possession 
of Greece ; or a conquering prince may carry learn- 
ing into barbarous nations which he" subdues, as 
Alexander's successors cherished literature in the 
countries in which they established themselves ; but 
useful arts, various productions, and the knowledge 
of different nations, are peacefully and happily inter- 
changed only by means of free trade and universal 
good-will among men. 



12 DISCOVERY OF BRAZIL. 

Though the discovery of De Gama was made on 
the section of the earth opposite to the western con- 
tinent, yet this discovery led to further knowledge of 
America. The king of Portugal, after Gama's re- 
turn, fitted out another fleet, which he gave in charge 
to Pedro Alvarez Cabral, and despatched him on the 
course which Gama had taken, commanding him to 
estabhsh a settlement on the coast of Malabar, and 
never once considering that the owners of that terri- 
tory might be averse to strangers, and unwilling to 
admit them. 

Cabral knew that very variable winds blew along 
the coast of Africa, and he presumed that far out 
into the Atlantic favourable breezes would be more 
constant, and that he should proceed more rapidly 
than De Gama had done if he should steer further 
west. In pursuance of this plan, Cabral kept so far 
to the west, that he soon found himself upon an un- 
known coast. He landed, discovered the soil to be 
fertile, and the climate agreeable, and took posses- 
sion of the country in the name of the king of Por- 
tugal. This country proved to be Brazil, which is 
the easternmost country of South America ; and 
ever since, till within a few years,* it has been a 
Portuguese possession. 

Ovando, Mdio was governor of Hispaniola when 
Columbus died, and who must be remembered by 
those who have read the life of Columbus, as the 
murderer of Anacaona, and a most cruel oppressor 
of the poor Indians, was in many respects a wise 
governor, for he turned the attention of the Spanish 
colonists from the search for gold to more useful 
occupations. Some slips of sugar-cane had been 
brought from the Canary Islands, and they were 

♦ In 1825 Brazil was declared to be independent of Por- 
tugal. 



CRUELTY OF THE SPANIARDS. 13 

soon made to thrive in the fertile soil of Hispaniola. 
Extensive plantations of sugar were begun, and in 
time, such quantities of that article were manufac- 
tured and exported to Europe, that the sales of sugar 
afforded a large revenue to the king' of Spain. 

Ferdinand, the patron of Columbus, was suc- 
ceeded in the sovereignty of Spain by his grandson, 
who was emperor of Germany, as well as king of 
Spain, and is known in history as the Emperor 
Charles V. Many splendid buildings were erected 
in Spain under this monarch, and it used to be said, 
" the palaces of Charles were built of the sugar of 
the West Indies." 

The most useful labourers in the different under- 
takings of the Spaniards, were the poor Indians ; 
but these unhappy creatures, being deprived of all 
which they had once possessed, and being assigned 
in companies, called Repartimienlos^ to the different 
proprietors of their own former territory, languished 
and died under these hardships, till the number of 
them was diminished nearly nine-tenths. The 
rapacious Spaniards did not acquire wealth so fast 
as they desired in Hispaniola, so many of them re- 
solved upon following any adventurer who should 
attempt new discoveries. 

Columbus discovered Porto Rico in his second 
voyage, and this island was settled by a Spanish 
colony, under Juan Ponce de Leon, an officer who 
had commanded under Ovando. The natives of 
Porto Rico, like those of Hispaniola, soon sunk 
under the cruel treatment of the Spaniards, and at 
length the latter had so few labourers, that they 
were obliged to purchase negro slaves. 

In Africa the nativie tribes fight much, and the 
parties victorious in these skirmishes, when the Por- 
tuguese began to trade with the Africans, used to 
2 



14 DON DIEGO COLUMBUS. 

sell their prisoners to Europeans. After the Spa- 
niards had exterminated the poor Indians, they gave 
great prices for negroes, whom they employed to 
work in their colonies, and those unhappy people 
have been purchased in Africa, and carried out to 
the American colonies for slaves ever since. 

Ovando not only encouraged industry in the co- 
lony under his government, but he assisted those 
who wished to prosecute further discoveries. By 
command of Ovando, Sebastian de Ocampo sailed 
round Cuba, and ascertained it to be an island ; and 
about the same time, Juan Diaz de Solis, and Yin- 
cent Yanez Pinzon, discovered the peninsula of 
Yacatan. The last project of Ovando, was the 
voyage of Ocampo, for he was recalled to Spain, 
and Don Diego Columbus was invested with the 
government of Hispaniola. 

It must be remembered, that when Columbus was 
appointed viceroy of all the countries he should disr 
cover, that the same dignity was to be hereditary in 
his family. On the death of Columbus in 1506, his 
son Don Diego claimed the right of succession, but 
the king of Spain continued Ovando in the govern- 
ment of Hispaniola, and neglected the claim of Don 
Diego, till the latter commenced a suit against the 
king ; and the Council of the Indies^ a court before 
which the atlair was laid, decreed that according to 
the promise made to his father, Don Diego was the 
legitimate governor. Don Diego Columbus com- 
menced his administration in 1509. 

For several years after Columbus had discovered 
the mainland, no settlement was attempted upon it ; 
but in 1510, the king of Spain granted the tract 
which extends from Cape Gracias a Dios to Cape 
de Yela, to two adventurers, Ojeda and Nienessa, 
and upon it they proposed to establish colonies. 



Balboa's government. 15 

The attempt to do this failed. The natives were 
more warlike than those of the islands ; they used 
poisoned arrows, and in a rencontre seventy of 
Ojeda's men were slain by the Indians. At length 
this colony, from sickness, famine, and the incessant 
hostility of the natives, was reduced to a few men 
under the command of Vasco Nugnez de Balboa. 

Balboa was a man of more sense and virtue than 
the generality of the Spanish adventurers, and his 
history is, on that account, more interesting and 
affecting. Balboa was anxious to preserve his little 
colony, and to make it respectable, and he hoped to 
deserve the favour of the king of Spain. The men 
who were left in the charge of Balboa, elected him 
their governor, and he wished the king to approve 
their choice. In order to obtain this favour, he 
endeavoured to perform every service in his power. 
He subdued the neighbouring chiefs, and collected 
a considerable quantity of gold, intending to send 
it to Spain, and resolved upon extending the posses- 
sions of Spain upon the continent. 

In one of Balboa's excursions in quest of gold, 
the Spaniards quarrelled violently about dividing it, 
and some of the natives who were standing by 
expected that they would kill each other. On this 
occasion one of the caciques, who was weighing the 
gold about which they were disputing, addressing 
himself to the Spaniards, exclaimed, " Why do you 
quarrel about such a trifle 1 If you love gold so 
much as to forsake your own country, and to vex 
and disturb other nations in order to obtain it, I will 
show you the way to a land in which it abounds." 

Balboa and his companions were delighted with 
this information, and eagerly inquired where the 
happy land lay. The cacique replied, that at the 
distance of six suns, which meant, at the distance of 



16 BALBOA UNDERTAKES THE 

six days' journey, they would find another ocean, 
and that along its borders lay the territory of a 
powerful nation rich in gold. This was Peru. Balboa 
recollected Columbus had presumed that the ocean 
lay to the west, and he resolved to go immediately 
in search of it. 

Balboa could not undertake his enterprise alone, 
so he sent to the governor of Hispaniola for men to 
join him, and he engaged some friendly caciques to 
attend them. The isthmus of Darien, which Balboa 
was about to explore, is in some places not more 
than thirty miles in width, but it was then crossed 
by lofty mountains and tangled forests, and infested 
with reptiles unknown in Europe. Balboa did not 
know all the difficulties of his journey before he 
undertook it ; but he was a man of great hardihood, 
and so kind and encouraging to others, that he 
entered upon laborious undertakings with all the 
hope, and all the helps which are necessary to en- 
counter dangers successfully. 

Balboa set out on the 1st of September, 1513. 
One hundred and ninety Spaniards, and one thousand 
Indians accompanied him ; and besides these was a 
troop of ferocious dogs. On his way a powerful 
body of natives stopped the followers of Balboa, but 
the latter easily scattered the Indians, and they pro- 
ceeded slowly, and with infinite toil, over rocks and 
bogs, and found the distance of^six suns extended to 
twenty- five. 

At length, being in sight of a high mountain, an 
Indian told Balboa, that beyond its summit lay the 
ocean. On receiving this information, Balboa com- 
manded his men to halt, that he might proceed alone, 
and be the first to enjoy the spectacle which he had 
so long desired. Nor was he disappointed in his 
anticipations, — " As soon as he beheld the South 



DISCOVERY OF PERU. 17 



Sea, stretching in endless prospect before him, he 
fell on his knees, and lifting up his hands to heaven, 
returned thanks to God, who had conducted him to 
a discovery so beneficial to his country, and so 
honourable to himself. His followers, observing 
his transports of joy, rushed forward to join in his 
wonder, exultation, and gratitude. They held on 
their course to the shore with alacrity, when Balboa, 
advancing up to the middle in the waves with his 
buckler and sword, took possession of that ocean in 
the name of the king his master, and vowed to de- 
fend it against all his enemies."* 

Balboa soon made demands upon the neighbour- 
ing chiefs, and they sent him considerable quantities 
of gold and pearls. He learned that the sea w^hich 
he had discovered, abounded in pearl oysters, and 
that to the south-east lay a mighty and opulent king- 
xiom, where the natives employed tame animals to 
carry their burdens. A drawing of these tame ani- 
mals was made upon the sand, and it proved to be 
the lama, or Peruvian camel. 

Balboa would have proceeded to Peru, but the 
intention to conquer every country they discovered 
was always uppermost in the minds of the Spaniards ; 
therefore, Balboa thought his forces insufficient, and 
after an absence of four months, he returned to his 
settlement, called Santa Maria, having made a dis- 
covery only second in glory to that of Columbus 
himself. Balboa, trusting that he had performed a 
service highly acceptable, sent information of his 
discovery to the king of Spain, and requested a 
thousand men to prosecute further conquests. 

The people of Spain were so much pleased with 
this intelligence, that multitudes were eager to en- 
gage in the service which Balboa proposed ; expect- 

* This memorable event took place September 26, 1513, 
2* 



18 BALBOA SUPERSEDED. 

ing, as was said at the time, to cast their nets into 
the sea, and to draw out gold. Ferdinand, as the 
history of Columbus abundantly proves, was a prince 
eminently ungrateful to those who rendered the best 
services to their country, and he ungenerously for- 
got the merit of Balboa, and named Pedrarias 
Davila governor of Darien, with the command of 
fifteen vessels, and twelve hundred soldiers. 

Pedrarias reached the gulf of Darien in safety, 
and immediately sent on shore an officer, with the 
king's commission, announcing him the governor of 
the colony. The Spaniards had heard of Balboa as 
a gallant warrior, and rich in the spoils taken from 
the Indians, but when Pedrarias arrived, he found 
Balboa clad in a canvass jacket and hempen sandals, 
and engaged in thatching with his own hands the 
little hut which was his habitation. But in this 
mean garb, Balboa lost none of his dignity, and 
received his guests with becoming courtesy. 

Many adventurers from the islands had joined 
Balboa, and the number of his adherents was about 
four hundred and fifty. These men, who knew the 
excellent qualities of their leader, murmured loudly 
against the injustice of the king in displacing him ; 
but Balboa submitted with a good grace, and treated 
Pedrarias with proper respect. Pedrarias, however, 
had no good feeling towards Balboa, and perceiving 
how much the latter was honoured by the colonists, 
determined to disgrace him. 

While Nicuessa governed in the district allotted 
to him by the king of Spain, Balboa was an officer 
under him, and was at that time accused of some 
misdemeanors. Pedrarias revived these accusa- 
tions, and imposed a fine on Balboa, as a punish- 
ment for forgotten offences. To be disgraced and 
punished among those by whom he had been re- 



BY PEDRARIAS. 19 



garded with the highest respect, and where he had 
been imphcitly obeyed, was a severe affliction to 
Balboa, and rendered Pedrarias detestable to the 
friends of the former. 

In consequence of the ill treatment offered to 
Balboa, incessant quarrels were kept up between 
his friends and the advocates of Pedrarias ; and, to 
add to the miseries of contention and mutual ill-will, 
the want of provisions, and a fatal disease, in the 
space of a month carried off above six hundred of 
the colonists. The Spaniards who had followed 
Pedrarias, in the hope of growing suddenly rich, 
finding themselves among the sick and dying, and 
w^ithout the comforts to which they had been accus- 
tomed, became heartily tired of the new world, and 
anxious to return to Spain. 

Pedrarias, in order to reconcile these disaffected 
persons to their condition, sent them into the interior 
of the country to obtain gold. Balboa, in his trans- 
actions with the natives had gained their friendship, 
and they readily formed alliances with him, but under 
Pedrarias, the Spaniards treated the Indians with 
excessive violence and cruelty, and the whole coun- 
try from the gulf of Darien to lake Nicaragua, was 
depopulated by their exactions, so that they were 
deprived of the advantage of all amicable traffic with 
the Indians. 

Balboa could not see the inhuman and unwise 
conduct of Pedrarias without indignation ; and he 
sent to Spain a true account of the proceedings by 
which that wicked governor had ruined his once 
flourishing colony. The king of Spain was thus 
made sensible of his own injustice, and immediately 
appointed Balboa, adelantado of the country upon 
the South Sea, at the same time commanding Pe- 
drarias to aid him in all his projects. But it is 



20 EXECUTION OF BALBOA. 

not possible for the commands of a king to reconcile 
implacable enemies. Because he bad injured him, 
Pedrarias hated Balboa ; and Balboa detested Pedra- 
rias, because he acted unjustly and unwisely. 

The king, when he gave Balboa the appointment 
of adelantado, sent him no money, and that unfortu- 
nate man had nothing with which to fit out any 
expedition ; but notwithstanding his want of means, 
he contrived to build four small vessels, and engage 
three hundred men in his service. After Balboa 
had received the appointment from the king of 
Spain, Pedrarias pretended to befriend him, and 
Balboa married his daughter, but as soon as Pedra- 
rias learned the friendly dispositions of the colonists 
towards Balboa, his envy was excited. No man 
takes pleasure in seeing one whom he unjustly 
hates, regarded with affection and honour by others. 

To gratify his malignity, Pedrarias determined to 
cut short the days of his rival. Just as Balboa was 
about to set sail upon his intended expedition, Pedra- 
rias sent him a request that he would for a short 
time postpone his voyage, and repair to the place of 
his residence, as Pedrarias, so he pretended, wished 
to have an interview with him previous to his depar- 
ture. Balboa, who was conscious of no crime, and 
incapable of a dishonourable action himself, sus- 
pected no injurious intention on the part of Pedrarias, 
and readily attended his summons. 

As soon as Pedrarias had Balboa in his power, he 
ordered him to prison. Here Balboa was not long 
confined, — Pedrarias appointed judges to try him. 
He was accused of a design to revolt from the 
authority of the governor whom the king had ap- 
pointed ; sentence of death was then pronounced, 
and Balboa was immediately executed. The Span- 
iards beheld with indiornation and sorrow the execu- 



SETTLEMENT OF CUBA. 21 

tion of a man more capable of accomplishing useful 
and honourable objects, than any who had borne 
command on the continent of America. Upon the 
death of Balboa, the design of his expedition was 
for a time abandoned, and the colony under Pedra- 
rias languished, and was removed to Panama, on 
the other side of the isthmus. 



— •^♦►^0^5 ©Hit** 



CHAPTER II. 

During the government of Don Diego Columbus, 
the most memorable, occurrence was the coloniza- 
tion of Cuba. Hispaniola, though once capable of 
affording subsistence to a million of Indians with 
their simple habits, when only fourteen thousand 
remained of the original population, did not afford 
means to satisfy the rapacity of a few thousand 
Spaniards. 

Among the companions of Columbus in his se- 
cond voyage, was one Diego Velasquez. This 
man established himself in Hispaniola, and there 
acquired a large fortune. When Diego Columbus 
found it expedient to effect a settlement in Cuba, he 
entrusted the conquest of that island to Velasquez. 
Three hundred men were deemed a sufficient force 
to subdue an island, seven hundred miles in extent, 
and filled with inhabitants. 

The natives of Cuba were as unwarlike as those 
of Hispaniola, and as little prepared to defend them- 
selves, though it happened that an Indian, who had 
taken refuge on the island, exhorted them to resist 
the invaders. This man's name was Hatuey: he 



22 HATUEY'S CRUEL DEATH. 

was a cacique, who had fled from Hispaniola, and 
taken refuge at the eastern extremity of Cuba. 
Hatuey had attached to himself followers, and they 
arrayed themselves for battle against the Spaniards, 
and endeavoured to force back the latter to their 
ships as they were landing. This effort was useless : 
the troops of Hatuey were overcome, and himself 
taken prisoner. 

Velasquez did not regard the unhappy Hatuey in 
his true character, that of a patriot, a lover and de- 
fender of his country; but he considered him no 
other than a runaway slave, who had taken up arms 
against his master. According to this false and 
unworthy notion, Velasquez condemned Hatuey to 
be burnt alive. Though the Spaniards had no just 
sense of humanity they pretended to be religious, 
and when they inflicted a cruel death upon the 
Indians, they would attempt to instruct them in 
Christian doctrines. 

When Hatuey, that he might be consumed in the 
flames, was fastened to the stake, a Franciscan friar 
offered to convert him. " If you believe what I 
tell you concerning our holy faith," said the friar, 
addressing himself to Hatuey, " as soon as the fire 
has consumed your body you will enter Heaven, and 
be happy there for ever." " Are there any Spa- 
niards in that place, which you say is so happy ?" 
asked the wretched Hatuey. " Yes," replied the 
Franciscan, " but only such as are holy and good." 
" Then I will not go thither," rejoined Hatuey, 
" the best of them have no goodness. I will never 
go to a place where I shall meet one of that detest- 
able race." 

The dreadful example of Spanish vengeance 
which was exhibited in the death of Hatuey, served 
lo terrify the whole people of Cuba, so that they 



DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA. 23 

scarcely made any opposition to Velasquez, who 
advanced peaceably into the island, established the 
colony, and was declared its governor in 1512. 

The next enterprise of the Spaniards was the dis- 
covery of the peninsula of Florida, in 1513, by Juan 
Ponce de Leon, the conqueror of Porto Rico. A 
foolish and false tradition, related by the natives of 
Porto Rico, induced Ponce de Leon to undertake a 
voyage of discovery. The Indians said, that at 
Bimini, one of the Lucayo islands, was a fountain, 
the waters of which possessed the wonderful pro- 
perty to restore to the aged and infirm the beauty 
and vigour of youth. It is not strange that the un- 
instructed Indians should believe this fiction, but it 
exhibits an excessive credulity in the better informed 
Spaniards, to be thus deceived ; nevertheless, Ponce 
de Leon went in search of the fabulous fountain, 
and discovered that beautiful tract of country which 
he named Florida, or the flowery. 

Under Diego Velasquez the colony of Cuba pros- 
pered, and it soon became the most flourishing of 
the Spanish settlements. But the persons who re- 
sorted to Cuba were not all satisfied to remain there, 
and they readily engaged in a voyage of discovery 
which was proposed. In 1517, Velasquez gave the 
command of three ships to Francesco Hermandez 
Cordova, an opulent planter of Cuba, and a hundred 
and ten men embarked on board of these vessels. 

On the twenty-first day after his departure from 
Cuba, the little squadron of Cordova reached Cape 
Catoche, the eastern point of Yucatan. The na- 
tives came out to see the Spaniards, and were 
decently clad in cotton garments. These Indians 
seemed to regard the strangers kindly, and invited 
them to visit their habitations. But this was trea- 
cherous hospitalitv, for the cacique had posted a 



24 DISCOVERY OF MEXICO 



considerable number of men in ambush, and these 
fell upon the Spaniards, and wounded and killed se- 
veral. The Spaniards, not liking this fierce recep- 
tion, proceeded on their voyage', which terminated 
in exploring the coast of Campeachy and returning 
to Cuba. 

Though nothing, except some specimens of gold, 
had been gained by the expedition of Cordova, and 
that commander died soon after his return to Cuba, 
the intelligence of new countries disposed Velas- 
quez to engage in farther discoveries ; and he fitted 
out four vessels, which he committed to the com- 
mand of Juan de Grijalva, who immediately pro- 
ceeded in the direction which Cordova had taken ; 
and having arrived at Yucatan, landed on the penin- 
sula, with the intention to punish the natives who 
had slain his countrymen under Cordova. But on 
engaging with the natives, the Spaniards found it 
more difficult to conquer them than they had ex- 
pected, and they proceeded, without further delay, 
along the coast of Campeachy and Mexico, till they 
nearly approached the tropic. 

This shore was beautifid, being cultivated, and 
exhibiting settlements at different places all along, 
with houses which appeared white and lofty in the 
distance. One of the sailors happening to remark 
that the country resembled Spain, Grijalva called it 
JYew Spain, the name by which that region is still 
known. The Spaniards landed at different places, 
and were well received. Grijalva learnt from the 
natives that they were the subjects of one monarch, 
called Montezuma, and that his dominion extended 
over many provinces. Some of Grijalva's men 
wished to remain in this delightful region, and 
would have commenced a settlement without further 
delay ; but Grijalva thought it prudent to return to 



BY CORDOVA. 25 



Cuba, and his squadron arrived there, after an ab- 
sence of six months, October 26th, 15 IS. 

This was the longest and most successful voyage 
which had been undertaken by the Spaniards in the 
new world. Yucatan was ascertained to be a pen- 
insula, and not an island, as had been supposed, 
and the countries which had been explored were 
extensive and fertile. The intelligence of all this 
was quickly sent to Spain; and Velasquez, happy 
beyond measure in the success of Grijalva, pro- 
ceeded to fit out a more powerful force to conquer 
and colonize New Spain. 

Twenty-six years had now elapsed since the dis- 
covery, in 1492. During that time the Spaniards 
had visited the Islands now called the West Indies ; 
had conquered and colonized Hispaniola, Porto 
Rico, and Cuba ; had explored the poast of the con- 
tinent, along the Gulf of Mexico from the tropic, 
south and east to Yucatan, proceeding thence all 
along the north coast of South America, and still 
further in a southerly direction to the mouth of the 
great river La Plata. The English navigators had 
explored the whole coast from Labrador to Florida ; 
so that the western continent and its islands, as far 
as the thirty-iifth degree of south latitude, was known 
to Europeans. The countries now called Patago- 
nia, Chili, the great empire of Peru, the north west 
coast, and the vast regions of the interior of Ame- 
rica, remained still unknown. 



No young person can read this book without 
thought. It will not be interesting, if the reader, as 
he proceeds in the narrative, is not willing to exa- 
mine the map of North America ; if he is not willing 
to think of the particular times in which the events 
mentioned occurred ; if he only desires to amuse 



26 FERDINAND CORTEZ. 

himself, and does not care to improve his mind by 
knowledge of truth. But if he should do all this, the 
conquest of Mexico, which is the history that will 
immediately follow, and which is a very important 
part of the history of nations^ will afford Inm plea- 
sure, even while it gives him pain ; for there is 
pleasure in the acquisition of all knowledge, though 
no human mind can contemplate the atrocities of 
the Spaniards in Mexico, without indignation against 
the perpetrators of such crimes, and compassion for 
the unfortunate people towards whom this pitiless 
part was acted. 

Velasquez lost no time in making the necessary 
preparations for the conquest which he designed, 
never once considering the exceeding injustice of 
such a proceeding. It must be remembered, that 
the Spaniards thought all people who were not in- 
structed in the Catholic faith were enemies of God, 
and that it was the duty of all good Catholics to 
inflict as much suffering upon the infidels as they 
conveniently could. his false opinion made the 
Spaniards wholly indifferent to the rights and hap- 
piness of the poor Indians in America. 

When Velasquez had fitted out his armament, he 
found it necessary to appoint a man of courage and 
boldness to undertake the command of it. The 
person whom he selected for the conduct of this im- 
portant business, was Fernando Cortez. Cortez 
was a native Spaniard, born in 1485, at Medellin, a 
town in the province of Estramadura, and descended 
from a noble family of small fortune. The parents 
of Cortez intended to educate him for the profession 
of the law, and he was sent to the university of Sala- 
manca, where he imbibed the elements of learning, 
but where he made no distinguished progress, as the 



CORTEZ SAILS WITH 27 

character of his mind disposed him particularly to 
an active life. 

Cortez soon grew tired of Salamanca, and re- 
turned to Medellin. There he abandoned all study, 
and gave himself up to military exercises, and a life 
of amusement. On account of this turn of mind, his 
father consented to gratify the young man's desire 
of going out among other adventurers to America. 
He landed at St. Domingo in 1504, and was 
kindly received by Ovando, who was his kinsman. 
Cortez remained in St. Domingo till 1511, and then 
accompanied Velasquez to the island of Cuba. Ve- 
lasquez and Cortez often quarrelled, but Velasquez, 
perceiving that Cortez was a man of ability, at 
length took him into favour. 

Cortez£ossessed a powerful mind, and was not 
soon fatiguecT'or drscouraged ; he w%s perse verihg/ 
self-ctrrTfideri!,lLhd^ihcarpabre of fear ; his person was 
fineTand his manners'lcommanded respect. These 
qualities recomriiended him to Velasquez, and he 
made him the leader of the expedition against 
Mexico. Cortez gladly accepted the appointment, 
and the men put under his command looked up to 
bim with respect and affection ; indeed, so much was 
Cortez esteemed, that Velasquez began to be afraid 
that the people under his government would in time 
set Cortez above him ; and he also feared that the 
wealth and glory which Cortez might acquire, would 
make him still more important. 

If Velasquez had previously considered these ob- 
iections to the appointment of Cortez, he would not 
lave made it, but when that commander was ready 
to embark, Velasquez first thought to deprive him 
af his command. Velasquez lived at the settlement 
jf St. J ago, and Cortez departed for his voyage from 
mother place on the same coast, called Trinidad. 



28 FORCES FOR MEXICO. 

While Cortez was at Trinidad, Velasquez became 
exceedingly anxious to prevent his departure, and 
ordered Verdugo, the chief magistrate of Trinidad, 
to compel him to resign his command ; but Cortez 
had under his authority the whole force destined for 
his expedition, and Verdugo found that he could 
not force him to abandon a project in which he was 
so deeply interested. 

Every person who engaged with Cortez expected 
to make his fortune in New Spain, and eveiy one 
contributed what he could afford to equip the fleet. 
The whole squadron, however, consisted of only 
eleven vessels. On board of these were six hun- 
dred and seventeen men — five hundred and eight 
officers and soldiers, and a hundred and nine sea- 
men and mechanics. Thirteen men were armed 
with musquets, thirty with cross-bows, and the rest 
with swords and lances. There were also sixteen 
horses, ten small pieces of cannon, and four culve- 
rins, which are a sort of cannon, very long and 
small. — This little armament was fitted out to con- 
quer the empire of a powerful king. 

Cortez took the same course that Grijalva had 
done. He stopped at an island called Cozumel, and 
found there a Spaniard, named Aquilar, who, daring 
eight years, had resided among the Indians. This 
poor man had adopted the customs of the Indians, 
went naked, twisted up his hair in the Indian fashion, 
and carried about a bow and arrows. He still pre- 
served his prayer book, which he continued devoutly 
to read. Aquilar related that he had suffered ship- 
wreck on the coast of Cozumel, v/ith nineteen of his 
countrymen ; that some of these had died of hunger 
and fatigue, some had been sacrificed to idols, and 
others had escaped into the country, and lived 
among Indians less hostile to them than those of 



TRADITION OF THE MEXICANS. 29 

the coast. Cortez took pity on Aquiiar, and carried 
him off to New Spain. 

When the ships of Grijalva had appeared off the 
shores of Mexico, the natives were struck with 
astonishment at the sight of the vessels, the white 
men, clothed in armour, and other objects entirely 
new to them. They consulted together what should 
be done, and at length thought it best to send intel- 
ligence of this wonderful occurrence to their king, 
Montezuma. 

In order to convey to Montezuma the most per- 
fect ideas of the Spaniards and their equipments, the 
natives caused the vessels, arms, and persons of the 
strangers, to be represented in such paintings as 
they were capable of executing ; and they also sent 
with these, the glass beads and other baubles, which 
the Spaniards had given them in exchange for more 
valuable things. 

Montezuma was exceedingly disturbed when he 
received this intelhgence. He called a council of 
his lords, and they conferred upon what was best to 
be done. The council concluded that the leader of 
the strangers was no other than Quet-zal-cot, the 
god of the air. The loud sound of the artillery, so 
nearly resembling thunder, led the poor Mexicans to 
presume that the god of air intimated his coming by 
these extraordinary sounds. There existed among 
this people a prophecy, that Quet-zal-cot should 
once more return to earth ; for he was a beneficent 
prince, who had reigned over them, and he was now 
deified ; and they looked for his second coming to 
rule over them, in peace and happiness. 

Montezuma, upon this, thought it proper to pay 

the utmost respect to the supposed god ; and ordered 

five persons of high rank, to repair to the coast with 

a handsome present, which they were to offer to 

3* 



^ INDIAN MODE OF WARFARE. . 

Quet-zal-cot. Ho^vever, when the king's arabassa^ 
dors reached the shore, the Spaniards were out of . 
sight, haWng proceeded northwards. 

When Cortez an-ived on the Mexican coast, the | 
natives do not appear to have entertained the reve- 
rence for him which they had fek for Grijalva. Cor- . 
tez landed without ceremony, and attended by large 
numbers of his men, proceeded to march up the i 
country, and take such provisions as they could find. \ 
The Indians, enraged at this conduct, and ignorant ! 
of the effect of fire-arms, attacked the Spaniards in ! 
larse numbers. A decisive battle was then fought, | 
and eight hundred Indians v>'ere killed, while only ] 
one Spaniard lost his life, and about sixty were j 
wounded. 1 

It may be well at this time to give you some : 
notion of the Indian mode of warfare. The greater ■ 
pai-t of the Indians were armed with bows, arrows, ; 
and lances. The bow-strings were twisted entrails ■ 
of beasts, or the long hair of some animal, twisted ; 
so as to form a strong and elastic cord ; and the \ 
arrows were pointed with sharp fish bones. They ; 
also carried a sabre, made of hard wood, exceedingly J 
heavv, and which inflicted a terrible blow. Some 
of them earned chibs, and others shngs ; and they 
possessed the art of hurling large stones with much ! 
dexterity and effect. j 

The chiefs only wore armor. They covered j 
their breasts with a cuirass of quilted cotton. This , 
substance is less penetrable to pointed instruments, | 
than any equally soft — a cushion stuffed with cotton, 
does not easily admit the points of pins — in the same i 
manner, when the barbs of arrows stiiick up^n the , 
cotton cuirass, they were entangled or turned back, i 
The crreater part of the warriors were quite naked. 
Their faces and bodies were painted of various co- i 



SUPERIORITY OF THE SPANIARDS. 31 

lours, and upon their heads they wore towering 
plumes, to increase their stature and to make them 
appear more terrible. 

The Indians made use of martial music. Their 
musical instruments were large conch shells, a flute 
of reeds, and a drum made of the hollow trunk of a 
tree. It has been the custom in European warfare, 
not to engage all the soldiers at once, but to take 
out a certain number, and keep them in waiting till 
their services should be most useful. This is called 
the corps de reserve. The Indians practised the 
same expedient. These inexperienced people, be- 
fore they had any engagement with the Europeans, 
had no apprehension that their larger numbers could 
not disperse the little band which appeared against 
them. — The Indians commenced the combat by 
terrible shouts, and by hurling a shower of arrows at 
the enemy, but this onset was nothing against the 
cavalry and fire-arms of the Spaniards ; and when at 
length hostilities took place between the Europeans 
and the Indians, the Indians not only felt themselves 
conquered, but humbled. 

Cortez said, this sacrifice of the lives of the In- 
dians, was a just act on the part of the Spaniards, 
for they assured the Indians that they intended them 
no injury. When his victory was complete, Cortez 
sent for the lords of the province, and demanded of 
them to acknowledge him as their lawful sovereign. 
To inspire fear, he discharged his artillery and pro- 
duced his horses — -an animal with which they were 
unacquainted, and which at first sight always terri- 
fied them. The Pvlexicans readily submitted them- 
selves to this powerful master, and made him many 
presents, among which were twenty female slaves. 

Among the slaves was a young girl of much 
talent, who afterwards proved very useful to the 



32 MARINA. 



Spaniards. This girl was celebrated by the Span- 
iards, as the first individual of ISew Spain who 
was converted to the Catholic faith. She was bap- 
tized by the name of Marina. Marina was the 
daughter of a Mexican lord. Her father had died 
while she was an infant, and her mother married a 
second time, and had a son. The parents of this 
boy loved him so much better than the girl, that they 
resolved to bestow upon him their whole property. 

Marina, as she v/as called by the Spaniards, was 
so well liked, that her parents would have been 
despised by their neighbours, had it been known that 
they had deprived her of her inheritance. These 
cruel parents, therefore, sold their daughter for a 
slave to some traders v/ho were going to a distant pro- 
vince, and pretended that she was dead, and that they 
mourned for her. The young girl was afterwards 
carried by the slave-dealers into Tabasco, the place 
where the Spaniards received her as a present. 

Marina understood the Maja language, which was 
spoken in Yucatan and Tabasco, besides that of her 
own country, and she soon learned Spanish. She 
loved the Spaniards, and so much did Cortez esteem 
her, that he often took her advice, and she accom- 
panied him wherever he went. Upon one occasion, 
in 1524, Marina went with Cortez to the province of 
Honduras. In her journey to Honduras, she passed 
through the country in which her mother lived — 
There she visited her mother and brother, and they 
must have felt upon that occasion, somewhat as the 
brothers of Joseph felt, when he recognised them in 
Egypt. 

Marina had been sold, as Joseph was sold to the 
Ishmaelites, and she had fallen into the hands of a 
rich and powerful man, who conquered her country, 
but who honoured and trusted her, and treated her 



HER GOOD CONDUCT. 33 

with much attention and favour. When the mother 
and brother of Marina saw her, they were afraid she 
would revenge the wrongs done to her infancy. 
They knew she could dispose the Spaniards to fol- 
low her advice, and they feared she would tell them 
to take away their property, or kill them. 

The fears of the guilty mother and son, proved to 
be unfounded : when they saw Marina they ap- 
proached her with tears, and entreated her forgive- 
ness of their selfish and cruel conduct towards her, 
but she possessed too much generosity, to return 
evil for evil. She receiv^ed her mother and brother 
with affection, caressed them tenderly, forgave them 
freely, and proceeded on her journey, leaving them 
in admiration of her excellent disposition and con- 
duct. 

Cortez thought proper to explore the coast further, 
and taking leave of the lords of Tabasco, proceeded 
to the harbour upon which now stands the city of 
Vera Cruz. The Spaniards had scarcely arrived 
at this place when two large canoes full of Mexi- 
cans, came towards them. Marina understood 
their language, and communicated what they said 
to Aguilar, who understood the Maja language 
which she spoke, and who, in his turn, interpreted 
her words to the Spaniards. 

These Mexicans said they were sent by the 
governor of their province to inquire who were the 
strangers, what they wanted, and what might be 
done for their accommodation. This conduct was 
exceedingly benevolent, and Cortez received it 
graciously. He replied, that he had only come 
among them to traffic with them, and he then offered 
them some European trifles in exchange for gold. 



34 MEXICAN GOVERNORS. 



CHAFTEH III. 

CoRTEZ finding a good harbour a few miles south 
of the present city of Vera Cruz, thought it a suita- 
ble place to take up his abode for that time ; so he 
formed an encampment near the shore, and was soon 
after visited by two Mexican governors of the neigh- 
bouring province. Their names were Teutile and 
Cuit-lal-pit-oc, and they were accompanied by a 
large number of attendants. Cortez received them 
respectfully, and invited them all to dine with him. 
By means of Marina and Aguilar, the Spanish chief 
and his visitors contrived to understand each other. 

After their dinner was over, Cortez addressed 
himself to Teutile and Cuit-lal-pit-oc, nearly thus : 
"I am the subject of Don Carlos, of Austria, the 
mightiest king of the east, and known all over the 
world for his riches and his bounty. My sovereign, 
having heard of the majesty and power of the king 
of Mexico, has sent me to these shores to offer his 
respects, and to communicate to him some affairs 
of importance ; it is, therefore, my intention to pre- 
sent myself to your king, as soon as it shall be his 
will to receive me." 

" I hear with pleasure," replied Teutile, '< of the 
magnificence of your sovereign, but -know that our 
monarch is not less glorious. His wealth and his 
goodness, cannot be surpassed by any king upon 
earth. — You have been only a few days in these 
realms, yet you desire to be admitted without 
delay, into the presence of Montezuma. I doubt 
not, that our, king will rejoice to hear from ano- 
ther prince as happy and powerful as himself, and 
that he will receive his ambassador in the most 



PRESENTS TO CORTEZ. 35 

honourable manner, but first it will be necessary 
to give him information of your arrival, and he 
will then send such an answer, to your request, 
as may suit his royal pleasure. That he may 
form some notion of you, be pleased to allow our 
painters to take a view of yourselves and your equi- 
page, and also to accept from us the articles 
contained in this pet-la-calli, and these other gifts, 
the productions of our country," pointing to certain 
articles, which some of the attendants held in their 
hands, and others which were laid upon the ground. 

The pet-la-caUi was a small basket of woven 
reeds, and it contained several ornaments of wrought 
gold. Besides these, they offered Cortez a con- 
siderable quantity of cotton garments, some orna- 
mental plumes, and abundance of provisions. Cortez 
received all these presents with the utmost polite- 
ness, and consented that the painters should make 
pictures of whatever they pleased ; but to impress 
the whole company with astonishment and awe, he 
ordered the cavalry to be displayed before them, 
and the artillery to be discharged in a volley. An 
account of all this was transmitted to Montezuma 
by means of the paintings, imperfectly indeed, but as 
well as the execution of their artists would permit. 
The Mexicans and Peruvians had no post horses, 
but instead of them, couriers, stationed upon the 
roads, conveyed intellig-^^Bce from one to another, 
and thus any article wa& rapidly transported from 
one place to another. 

Seven days after the departure of the messengers, 
and of Teutile, the latter returned, accompanied 
by an ambassador, and a hundred men ofhurderiy 
bearing a present from P*Iontezuma to Cortez. It 
has been before remarked, that the Mexicans did 
not use brute animals for transportation. The 



36 MONTEZUMA SENDS AN 

journey from the city of Mexico to the encampment 
of the Spaniards, was two hundred miles. That 
this distance was twice traversed in seven days, 
shows the dihgence of the couriers. The ambassa- 
dor was brought upon a Utter, and his carriers were 
constantly changed in his progress. 

When Montezuma learned the arrival of the Span- 
iards upon his coast, he was alarmed. He instantly 
consulted his gods in order to learn what should be 
done in respect to the strangers ; and their interpre- 
ters (for it appears that the Mexicans, like the 
Greeks, had oracles) instructed him that the gods 
had determined he should not admit the strangers to 
the city of Mexico. In consequence of this divine 
intimation, Montezuma determined with all possible 
respect to refuse the intended visit of Cortez. 

In order to satisfy Cortez, Montezuma sent his 
ambassador to him, and with him a valuable present 
which he imagined might induce the Spanish chief 
to leave his territory. When the ambassador was 
come into the presence of Cortez, he touched the 
earth with his hand, and then lifted it to his mouth, 
presented incense to Cortez and his officers, and 
saluted them all respectfully. After performing this 
oeremony, according to the customs of his country, 
the ambassador addressed himself to Cortez and his 
principal officers thus : — 

" I have come hither at the command of the king 
of Mexico, lie has instructed me to say to you, that 
he is happy to bear of your arrival in his dominions — 
happy that men so gallant and brave, are the servants 
of the illustrious king of Spain. He desires, most 
ooble lords, to present his thanks to your master, for 
.the gifts he has received at your hands ; and further, 
to express the honoi-ir in which he holds the king of 
Spain and his messengers, and he requests you to 



AMBASSADOR TO CORTEZ. 37 

accept these tokens of his friendship to your sover- 
eign and yourselves." 

Having spoken thus, the ambassador caused his 
attendants to spread some fine mats and cotton 
cloths upon the ground, and upon these were soon 
placed in order, certain figures of wrought gold and 
silver. These were images of lions, tigers, apes, 
and other animals. Besides the images were cloth 
of fine cotton, and some fanciful works of party- 
coloured feathers. But the most curious objects 
were two wheels, one of gold, and the other of sil- 
ver — the former had the face of the sun engraved 
in the middle, and was surrounded by different 
figures, such as serpents, flowers, and birds ; the 
other wheel was the larger of the two, and repre- 
sented the moon in the centre, surrounded by figures 
similar to those which encircled the image of the sun. 

The Spaniards were not only delighted, but 
amazed at this display. The Indians whom they 
had previously seen, were neither so courteous, nor 
so ingenious. These appeared not only amiable, but 
of polished manners, and altogether far more civi- 
lized, than any other natives of the western world 
with whom they were acquainted. 

" This present, " added the ambassador, " my 
sovereign sends to the chief of this honourable com- 
pany, and to his companions. As to your king, 
Montezuma will soon send him some jewels of ines- 
timable value. In the mean time, it is his wish 
that you remain upon this shore, as long as shall be 
agreeable to you, to repose after the fatigue of your 
long voyage, and to provide yourselves with what- 
ever you may want to make you comfortable on your 
return to your native country. 

" Whatever you desire, which this country affords, 
I am commanded to say to you, is entirely at your 
4 



38 PRESENTS FOR THE KING OF SPAIN. 

service, and shall be given you whenever you ask it. 
In respect to your visit to the city of Mexico, in 
which my master dwells, I am charged to tell you, 
that no good purpose can be answered by it. The 
way from this coast to Mexico, is long and danger- 
ous — through uninhabited deserts in some parts, and 
in others through the territory of our enemies." 

Cortez was somewhat disappointed at Montezu- 
ma's message. He, however, accepted his presents, 
and begged the favour of the ambassador imme- 
diately to return to his king, and to represent to him 
that the king of Spain would be highly offended if 
his servants should return, without having seen and 
conversed with his royal brother the king of Mexico. 
The ambassador agreed to make a report of this to 
Montezuma, and politely taking leave of the Span- 
iards, departed in company with Teutile. 

In a short time Teutile once more returned, and 
offered to Cortez far more valuable presents than 
the former. These were especially designed for the 
great king of Spain. Wishing that king all happiness, 
the king of Mexico expressed a wish that he might 
receive no more messages from him, and declined 
to admit any of his subjects into his presence. 
Cortez, notwithstanding the perseverance of the 
Mexican king in refusing his solicitations, did not 
abandon his intention of proceeding to Mexico. 

The unfortunate Montezuma, when he sent costly 
gifts to the Spanish monarch and his emissaries, 
presumed that he conferred upon them all that they 
could desire. He did not know that hard-hearted 
avarice is never satisfied — that the more it gains, 
the more it asks ; nor did he conceive that the pos- 
session of a few of the best things which his country 
afforded, would create a desire in the minds of those 
selfish and rapacious Spaniards, to deprive him and 



ADVICE TO THE MEXICANS. 39 

his subjects of whatever belonged to them — their 
country, and all its riches. 

Though the desire of gold seems to have been 
the prevailing passion of the greater number of 
Europeans who adventured into the new world, they 
had some sense of religion ; they pretended, and 
perhaps, many of them really felt so, to wish to 
instruct the natives in Christianity, which, as they 
understood that religion, was the Catholic faith. 
The Mexicans offered human sacrifices, than which 
nothing is more shocking to humanity, or more 
opposed to true religion. When the Spaniards per- 
ceived that the Mexicans murdered their fellow 
creatures in honour of their gods, superstitious as 
they were themselves, they represented to the mis- 
guided Indians that this cruel practice must be offen- 
sive to the true God whom they worshipped. 

Teutile, before he departed, observed that the 
Spaniards, at the stroke of a bell, kneeled down 
before a wooden cross. The Mexican lord won- 
dered what this could mean, and when he inquired, 
the Spaniards informed him, that Jesus Christ the 
son of God, the maker of heaven and earth, was 
once sent into the world, and that he taught men to 
be good ; but while some received his instructions, 
others hated him, and at length nailed him to a cross, 
like that before which the Spaniards offered their 
devotions. They further related, that this same 
Jesus died upon the cross, was buried, rose from 
the dead, and ascended into heaven ; that he still 
existed in heaven ; that men called Christians still 
honoured him, and endeavoured to act as he had 
taught and commanded while on earth; and that 
when they knelt before the image of the cross, they 
thought of Christ ; of his sufferings upon earth, and 
all his goodness to mankind, and that they prayed 



40 ALAUM OF THE SPANIARDS. 

to him, that he would intercede with God theFather 
to forgive sinners, and bless all men. They also 
further represented to the Indians, that there is but 
one God ; that it is foolish and wicked to pray to 
false gods, and that the good and only God abhorred 
human sacrifices. These instructions, at that time, 
did no good ; the Indians did not understand them, 
but they soon perfectly understood the cruel dispo- 
sitions and wicked conduct of the Spaniards, and 
that while they taught religion with their Ups, they 
inculcated injustice and all iniquity by their vile 
examples. 

Soon after Teutile had departed, the Spaniards 
perceived that the natives, who had previously been 
seen in large numbers in their vicinity, were entirely 
withdrawn, not one coming in sight. This measure 
was no doubt ordered by the king, who presumed 
he should thus force the Spaniards to leave his 
dominions, as the natives had previously supplied 
them liberally with provisions, and by their absence 
they would be deprived of the necessaries of life. 
The Spaniards were alarmed at this measure of the 
Mexicans, and they dreaded that the whole force of 
the empire would pour down upon them, and that 
before a long time, such numbers would come 
against them, that they should be overpowered and 
wholly extirpated by these people, who, because the 
Spaniards had refused to leave their country, were 
become their exasperated enemies. 

While the Spaniards were in this state of suspense, 
two soldiers, who kept guard without the camp, saw 
five men coming towards them, whose dress and 
ornaments were different from those of the Mexi- 
cans. When these men presented themselves 
before Cortez, Marma was obliged to exert her 
talent to make them intelligible, and with her as- 



THE TOTONACAS. 41 

sistance the Spaniards learned who they were, and 
what was their errand. 

They were, they said, of the nation of the Toto- 
nacas, and were sent by the lord of Chempoalla, to 
pay his respects to the strangers. Their city was 
twenty-four miles distant, and their lord would be 
happy to receive a visit from Cortez. They would 
sooner have offered this civility to the strangers, but 
while the latter were surrounded by the Mexicans, 
none of the Totonacas dared approach. The To- 
tonacas were a nation now subject to the Mexicans, 
and were forced to pay tribute to them. 

The Mexicans were hard masters, and the Toto- 
nacas wished to be relieved from their tyranny ; they 
hoped they might obtain some assistance from the 
Spaniards, and the lord of Chempoalla, when he 
should see the general, would relate to him all the 
wrongs he had suffered. To take part in some 
quarrel against the Mexicans, was very desirable to 
Cortez — he would then have a pretence to conquer 
the country. Young persons, who have read Roman 
history, will recollect, that when that warlike people 
were called upon as umpires between contending 
states, they ended the dispute by taking to them- 
selves the country where the war lay, and making 
both parties their dependents. In this way they 
made themselves masters of Greece, of Carthage, 
and of Judea. 

Cortez would have departed immediately for 
Chempoalla, but his followers did not incline to 
remain in the country. Some of them recollected 
that Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, was opposed 
to Cortez, that he would at least have hindered him 
from undertaking the expedition, and these persons 
thought that Cortez was not altogether to be trusted, 
that he would lead them into great dangers, and it 
4* 



42 CORTEZ ACKNOWLEDGED GENERAL. 

was likely that five hundred men, opposed to the 
whole population of the Totonacas, would in the 
end all be slaughtered. These persons therefore 
represented that it was an exceedingly rash experi- 
ment to withdraw from the camp, and trust them- 
selves among multitudes of men, who, most hkely, 
wished to exterminate them all. 

Cortez was not intimidated by this resistance to 
his authority. Those who refused to accompany 
him to Chempoalla also advised that the armament 
should return to Cuba ; but Cortez on his part, re- 
presented that this measure was exceedingly unwise, 
and that if they should now return, they would have 
gained nothing by the expedition — would be as poor 
as they were when they first adventured with him ; 
tliat they would be held in deserved contempt by 
their nation ; but, on the contrary, if they persevered 
in their entei-prise, he had no fear that they would 
not obtain great riches, and he was moreover con- 
vinced that they might convert these heathens to the 
knowledge of the true faith. 

Besides offering these inducements to his ad- 
herents to follow him wherever he should lead, 
Cortez required of them a formal acknowledgement 
that he was their general, not by the appointment of 
Velasquez, or by his own assumption, but by the free 
choice of all then present. After due deliberation, 
this acknowledgement was made, and a full com- 
mission conferred upon Cortez by his followers. 

After this was done, he gave offices to certain 
magistrates of his own appointment; laid down laws, 
by which all were to be governed ; regulated courts, 
by which offenders were to be tried, and formed the 
plan of a colony. 

When all these matters were adjusted, Cortez, at 
the head of his troops, proceeded to Chempoalla. 



HIS RECEPTION AT CHEMPOALLA. 43 | 

The little army were well prepared to defend them- j 

selves, for Cortez did not entirely trust the sincerity \ 

of the Totonacas, and he fully believed, that by re- j 

maining in the country he had provoked the ill-will i 

of the Mexicans, and might be in danger from their i 

resentment. When the Spanish armament were ar- ; 

rived within three miles of Chempoalla, twenty | 

respectable looking natives came out to meet them, j 
and presented to Cortez a refreshment of ananas 

and other fruits, making at the same time an excuse | 

for their lord, who would receive them with pleasure, i 
said the messengers, when they should be come 

into his city, which was near. i 

The Spaniards received these civilities graciously, ! 

and advanced towards the city of Chempoalla with ; 

alacrity. They were surprised and delighted with ; 

the appearance of Chempoalla. Some of them : 
called it Seville^ on account of its pleasantness and 

beauty. According to the lowest estimate of the : 

Spanish historians, this city coatained at that time j 

thirty thousand inhabitants : at present only its site • 

remains ; under the cruel influence of the Spanish j 

power, subsequently established in the country, it \ 

dwindled away, and was entirely depopulated. 1 

The Spaniards, when they had entered Chem- i 

poalla, were escorted to a large temple, and were i 

welcomed at the entrance by the lord of the city. ; 

He was an excessively corpulent man, but very j 

polite. This Indian noble received Cortez with j 
much cordiality, and instantly appointed a residence 

for himself and his troops in convenient habitations \ 

in the neighbourhood of the temple, and there they j 

were served with every accommodation which the ! 

place afforded. . ! 

At a convenient time, the lord of the city with ! 

several other noblemen, paid a visit to Cortez, and i 



44 CONFERENCE WITH THE 

with the aid of the interpreters, they discoursed toge- 
ther. " I am come," said Cortez, " from the other 
side of the earth, from a nation of white men, wise, 
powerful, and kind. The prince whom I serve is 
rich, and his liberaUty is equal to his wealth. He 
has sent me hither that I may give him some ac- 
count of the inhabitants of this part of the world ; 
and he commanded me to do good to all men, more 
particularly to help those who are oppressed, and 
to punish their oppressors. To you, then, lord of 
Chempoalla, I offer my services. Command me if I 
can do any thing that shall punish your enemies ; 
name what you require, and I and my troops will 
cheerfully assist you in whatever you shall request." 

" Gracious stranger," replied the lord of Chem- 
poalla, "I cannot sufficiently commend your bene- 
volence, and none can stand more in need of it. 
You see before you a man wearied out with unme- 
rited wrongs ; the chief of a state nearly ruined by 
the most tyrannical power upon earth ; the father of 
a people trodden under the foot of the strong, and 
crushed by the hard hand of the cruel. The Toto- 
nacas are a nation, once free, once governed by 
their own lords, once rich in the productions of their 
soil, once secure and happy in the midst of their 
families. 

" Alas ! our felicity is destroyed : now the power 
of our nobles is gone ; the growth of our fields is 
carried off before our eyes ; our sons are torn from 
us for sacrifices, and our daughters for slaves. The 
Mexicans are our conquerors and our oppressors ; 
it is they who heap these calamities upon us — to 
whose rapacity our gold and our harvests are a 
prey — to whose violence and sordi.dness our chil- 
dren are victims. Not long ago, these Mexicans 
were neither the richest nor the strongest of the 



LORD OF CHEMPOALLA. 45 

nations, but they have gone on, making conquest 
after conquest, and binding their fetters upon one 
state after another, till they gather tribute from every 
land, and their subjects are of all countries in this 
our world. And now, mighty warrior, all that we 
would ask of thy strength and thy kindness is, that 
thou wouldst enable us to resist these tyrants — that 
thou wouldst dehver us from their exactions, and 
expel them from our territory." 

Cortez answered, " This I will gladly aid you to 
do ; but let us not be rash in this matter. I will dwell 
with you a while, and whenever I shall see a suitable 
occasion to punish your enemies, and to relieve you 
from their impositions, you may rely upon me to 
effect your deliverance, and to bring down their 
pride and their power." The lord of Chempoalla 
was comforted by this assurance, and took leave of 
Cortez, persuaded that this wonderful race, who had 
come from a far-off land, were ordained by the gods 
to remit tribute to the Mexicans, and restore free- 
dom to the Totonacas. 

The next day four hundred men of burden were 
offered to Cortez, to convey the baggage of the 
Spaniards wherever they should choose, and Marina 
informed the general that it was a custom of the 
country, whenever any respectable stranger ap- 
peared in a town, to offer him accommodation, and 
to furnish him with carriers, who conveyed his bur- 
dens a certain distance, without any expectation of 
reward : money being little used by these people, and 
the traveller being of necessity without any thing to 
spare. 

Soon after, Cortez and the lord of Chempoalla 
paid a visit to Chi-a-huitz-la, a small city twelve 
miles distant from Chempoalla. Here they con- 
ferred with the lord of the place, concerning the best 



46 SEIZURE AND IMPRISONMENT 

mode of releasing these cities from Mexican 
tyranny. In the midst of their deliberations, five 
Mexican lords, receivers of tribute, arrived at Chi- 
a-huitz-la, attended by a great retinue. The Mex- 
ican lords were highly offended at the Totonacas 
that they had received the Spaniards. 

" You were told," said one of them to the lord of 
Chempoalla, " when you heard of these people, it 
was the pleasure of the great Montezuma that they 
should not abide in the land ; you knew that he had 
signified to them his royal will, that they should de- 
part from us whither they would ; yet, in contempt 
of his authority, you have welcomed and cherished 
these intruders. To punish this audacious insult 
to our sovereign, we demand, in his name, twenty 
young men of the cities of Chempoalla and Chi-a- 
huitz-la, who shall be ofiered as sacrifices to the 
offended gods." 

The lords of Chempoalla and Chi-a-huitz-la were 
infinitely disturbed by this occurrence. The indig- 
nation of the Mexican lords, and the demand for the 
twenty youths intimidated them excessively. Ma- 
rina was informed of the whole transaction, and 
instantly reported it to Cortez. The mind of Cortez 
was quick in resource and decision, and he was p 
stranger to fear. At this juncture, his boldness and 
courage suggested an expedient at which the Indian 
lords at first hesitated. He told them to deny the 
authority of the Mexicans, to seize the collectors of 
tribute, and confine them in prison. Though this 
measure at first shocked the dependent lords, they 
were soon prevailed upon by Cortez to adopt his 
advice. 

As soon as the five Mexicans were thrown into 
confinement, the other lords would have killed them, 
but Cortez interfered. He told them, this would 



OF THE MEXICAN COLLECTORS. 47 

be an act of cruelty, and admonished them to for- 
bear. This seeming humanity of Cortez made him 
appear more benevolent than ever in the eyes of 
the Totonacas, and they honoured him accordingly. 
Cortez did not intend to excite the ill-will of the 
Mexicans against himself, therefore, he secretly as- 
sisted two of the prisoners to escape, pretending that 
he had no concern in their confinement. He was 
guilty of this act of deceit that he might seem to the 
Mexicans to be a benefactor ; that they might con- 
vey a good account of him to their king ; and that he 
might thereafter dispose the king to allow him to do 
as he pleased in his dominions. 



♦0© 



CHAPTER IV. 

Cortez pretended to blame the guards for permit- 
ting the escape of the Mexican collectors, and 
requested that the remaining three might be con- 
ducted to his ships, there to be detained as prisoners ; 
but as soon as they were on board, he liberated 
them, and they returned to court, where they de- 
scribed, with many praises, the grandeur and gene- 
rosity of the Spanish general. 

Before he took any further measures, Cortez 
thought it expedient to erect a fortress upon the 
coast, and to establish there a colony : that meant a 
fixed residence for a certain number of his followers, 
where they should be safe, and whither the rest 
might repair as to their home. Cortez and all his 
men went briskly to work, and with the assistance 
of the Indians, they erected some small houses, and 



48 ALLIANCE OF THE SPANIARDS 

a fortress capable of resisting the Mexicans. This 
settlement, commenced 1519, was called Villarica, 
(or rich city,) of Vera Cruz, so named on account of 
the richness of the presents of the Mexicans, which 
were displayed there. This spot is a little to the 
north of the present city of Vera Cruz, or true cross. 

When the liberated Mexicans returned to the city 
of Montezuma, they spoke warmly of the friendship 
of Cortez, and the king felt grateful to the Spanish 
general for the preservation of the receivers^ lives. 
To express his gratitude, Montezuma sent two 
princes, his nephews, to visit Cortez and carry him a 
present. Cortez received these Mexican envoys 
with becoming civility, and they, on their part were 
delighted with the Spaniards, particularly with the 
shipping and the fortifications. 

The Totonacas now believed that they were re- 
lieved from the exactions of the Mexicans, and 
sounded, far and wide, the praises of their supposed 
deliverers ; and the neighbouring people, who were 
disposed to throw off the dominion of the Mexicans, 
joined to put under the command of the brave stran- 
gers a formidable army, which should march to the 
city of Mexico, and there demand the liberty of the 
dependent provinces. These people, at the same 
time that they renounced the emperor of Mexico for 
their sovereign, acknowledged themselves subjects 
of the king of Spain. 

To strengthen the attachment of the Spanish 
general to his cause, the lord of Chempoalla offered 
him a present of eight young virgins. On this occa- 
sion Cortez made a declaration which did great 
violence to the feelings of the Indian lord. When 
the young women were offered to him he said, 
before he should take them, they must renounce 
idolatry, and be baptized ; and he further remarked, 



WITH THE CHEMPOALLESE. 49 

that he had brought into their country the true reU- 
gion, and that if the whole people did not renounce 
the worship of idols, his God would be severely dis- 
pleased, and would bring upon them the severest 
punishments. 

The Chempoallese chief replied thus to the exhor- 
tation of Cortez : " We honour your friendship, 
noble Cortez, and we are indebted to you for the 
generous interest you take in our welfare ; but the 
gods are greater than man : earthly benefactors are 
but the ministers of their favour, therefore gratitude 
to the gods is man's first duty and obligation. Health, 
plenty, and all good gifts are dispensed by their 
bounty. To them we look for all benefits, and we 
dread their just anger more than the displeasure of 
the mightiest among men." 

Inflamed with religious zeal, and ignorant that 
reverence for their gods was a sentiment that should 
rather be honoured than insulted in uninformed men, 
only instructed in a false belief, Cortez turning to 
his soldiers, some of whom were present, in a vehe- 
ment tone exclaimed : 

" Soldiers, we are Spaniards ; we inherit from 
our ancestors the love of our holy faith ; let us pros- 
trate the vile images that meet our eyes all around 
lis ; let us plant the cross, and call the heathen to 
the feet of that holy symbol. If we die in the at- 
tempt, we shall perish like heroes and saints of old, 
and crowns of eternal glory will reward us in 
heaven." 

The Chempoallese chief would have resisted the 
Spaniards, who instantly rushed towards one of the 
temples, but the natives of the new world were al- 
ways overawed by the determined spirit and armour 
of the European warriors. Fear stayed their hands, 
and fifty Spanish soldiers instantly fell upon the 
5 



50 DESTRUCTION OV TflE IMAGES. 

idols of the great temple of Chempoalla. The To- 
tonacas, horror-struck at this profanation, could only 
weep, and supplicate the gods, entreating them not 
to punish the faithful Totonacas for the sacrilegious 
violence of these impious strangers. 

The destruction of the images did not satisfy 
Cortez : he ordered the temple to be thoroughly 
purified from the stains of human blood, and an 
image of the Virgin Mary to be placed in it. He 
then stripped four Chempoallese priests of the black 
garments which they usually wore, and put upon 
them white robes, and he afterwards instructed them 
to perform certain ceremonies of the Romish church. 
Wax lights are sometimes used in the services of 
the Catholics, and Cortez first taught the natives of 
Chempoalla this use of wax, which was abundantly 
afforded by the bees in the Mexican mountains. 

Cortez may be somewhat commended for this 
conduct. Any form of religion which encourages 
human sacrifices, demands severe measures to abo- 
lish it. As no lives were attacked or lost by this 
act of arbitrary power, it may be justified as intro- 
ducing a mild and Christian worship, instead of one 
so horrid. Cortez about this time received a small 
recruit from Cuba and Jamaica, and now saw no 
reason to delay his march to the city of the great 
king. 

' Previously to undertaking his journey, he wrote 
to the emperor Charles V. a particular account of 
all that had happened during his residence on the 
western continent. He represented that he did not 
hold his commission of general and chief judge over 
his majesty's subjects in the colony of Vera Cruz, 
by appointment from Velasquez, but by the free 
choice of all persons attendant upon him ; and he 



POLICY OF CORTEZ. 61 

entreated that the emperor would be pleased to con- 
firm his commission by his own royal sanction. 

All the officers of Cortez signed this petition, and 
he persuaded all who held any of the presents 
which had been made to them, to give up each man's 
share, that the whole might be offered to the em- 
peror. This request was complied with, and it 
shows how great was the influence of Cortez over 
the minds of his followers, that he could dispose 
them to give up the treasures they held in their 
hands to procure for themselves an uncertain be- 
nefit : for Cortez told them that if Charles should 
find the newly discovered country greatly produc- 
tive, he would grant them more privileges, and the 
way to convince him that the description of its 
abundance was true, would be to send him as much 
of its wealth as could be procured. A vessel bear- 
ing the treasure and the letters of Cortez, and the 
gifts of the Mexicans, set sail for Spain, July, 1519. 

When the vessel containing the treasure was de- 
parted, Cortez resolved immediately to proceed to 
the city of Mexico, but in order to reconcile all his 
men to the plan, and prevent them from leaving the 
country, he took the precaution to break up his ships. 
Having done this, he set out on the 16th of August. 
His force was four hundred and fifteen Spanish in- 
fantry, sixteen horses, two hundred Tamenes, (men 
of burden,) and a considerable number of Totonacas. 

Cortez and his men then travelled through two pro- 
vinces, Xalapan and Texotla. After crossing some 
desert mountains, through an atmosphere of a 
severe temperature, he arrived at Xocotla, a large 
city, consisting of many comfortable houses, and 
thirteen temples. The palace of the chief was con- 
structed of stones cemented with lime. This city 
belonged to the king of Mexico. Olintet, the lord 



52 OLINTET. 



of Xocotla, came out to meet the Spaniards, and 
treated them courteously. When Cortez and this 
chief conversed together, by means of the interpre- 
ters, they boasted mutually of the grandeur of their 
respective sovereigns, but Cortez ended by demand- 
ing of Olintet to acknowledge himself subject to the 
king of Spain, and immediately to pay him a large 
tribute in gold. 

" I have enough of gold," answered Olintet, " but 
I cannot give it to any man without an order from 
the king, whom I have ever regarded as my master." 
*' I," continued the imperious Cortez, " will soon 
compel him, whom you call master, to order you to 
give me as much gold as I shall ask." " Whenever 
my king," answered Olintet, " shall command me 
to render up my gold, my estate, or even my person, 
I shall not hesitate to submit to his orders." — So 
perfect was the subordination of the nobles of this 
country to the lord paramount 

Two nobles of this vicinity were more liberal than 
Olintet, for they gave Cortez a considerable amount 
of gold, and eight or ten slaves. At this place 
Cortez was somewhat at a loss how to proceed. Of 
two ways, one lay through the territory of Cholula, 
and the other through that of Tlascala. The Toto- 
nacas counselled him to proceed through Tlascala, 
the Xocotlans, through Cholula : Cortez took the 
advice of the former. From Xocotla the Spanish 
army proceeded about twelve miles through a popu- 
lous and cultivated country, till they came to a city 
of six thousand inhabitants, where they were well 
entertained. 

This tow^n was near the border of Tlascala, and 
it was thought prudent to send an embassy to the 
Tlascalans, to ask consent for the Spaniards to pass 
through their territory. Before the success of this 



THE TLASCALANS. 63 \ 



mission is detailed, it may be well to give some ac- 
count of the Tlascalans, because they are a highly 
interesting people. Their territory was about fifty 
miles in circumference, and extended along the Cor- 
dilleras. These mountaineers, like all other moim- 
taineers, were distinguished by the love of freedom 
■—a willing subordination to a political power of their 
own creating, and their own sustaining ; but they 
abhorred every other dominion, and they were wil- 
ling to sacrifice their lives in defence of their liber- 
ties. 

The Tlascalans had been dependent upon the king 
of Mexico, but they had set up an independent 
government, which they maintained. Every dis- 
trict of this warlike nation had its chief; and these 
chiefs, as deputies of the provinces, assembled at 
stated times at the city of Tlascala, forming the le- 
gislature of their nation ; and there they decided 
upon all concerns of peace and war. Cortez was 
desirous to form an alliance with this people. 

InteUigence had been conveyed to the Tlascalans 
of the arrival of the Spaniards upon the coast. The 
size of their ships, " armed with thunder, clad with 
wings ;" the agility and strength of their horses; and 
the destructive effect of their fire-arms, all magnified 
by the wonder and fear of those who described them, 
had excited much anxiety and apprehension, even in 
the minds of the Tlascalans. At the very time 
that envoys from Cortez arrived at the city of Tlas- 
cala, the principal lords were engaged in profound 
debate upon the course proper to be taken in regard 
to the strangers, should they approach the Tlasca- 
lan territory. 

The Chempoallese envoys, whom Marina had 
carefully instructed in a message from Cortez, being 
safely arrived in Tlascala, were presented to the 
5* 



54 THE TLASCAXANg. 



council of state. The envoys were clad in long 
cotton robes, and carried in their hands arrows with 
the points downwards. This was to intimate that 
they came peaceably. An arrow having the barb 
decorated with red feathers, intimated among this 
people a declaration of war. 

When the envoys entered the senate house of 
Tlascala, the members were seated according to 
their respective ages, upon blocks of a certain rare 
wood. This scene in the new world, reminds one 
of the senate of old Rome, when the venerable men 
of that city, in the days of her simplicity, sitting in 
the curule chairs, gave laws to their little state. The 
lords of Tlascala half rose at the entrance of the 
envoys, and the latter having made a particular 
reverence to each member, advanced to the middle 
of the hall, and prostrated themselves, waiting per- 
mission to rise and deliver their message. 

In a moment the envoys were requested to declare 
the intention of their visit, and one of them delivered 
a speech which has been thus recorded : — " Most 
noble and magnanimous chiefs ! Fathers of a free 
and courageous people ! your friends and allies, 
the lords of the Totonacas and of the mountain, 
salute you ; they wish you prosperity, plentiful har- 
vests, and the destruction of your enemies. They 
would inform you, that there are arrived from the 
east, a people who have come to our shores in 
floating houses, and that they bear the lightning of 
the gods. 

" These people inform us, that they are the wor- 
shippers of a God more powerful than ours, who will 
punish tyrants, and who will not accept human vic- 
tims. The chief of these heroes is sent hither by 
his king, to put an end to strife and violence. He 
has delivered us from the tribute wrung from us by 



SENATE OP THE TLASCALANS. 55 

our oppressors, and he now asks permission to pass, 
without disturbance, through your territory. His 
intentions are perfectly kind, and he trusts that you 
can have no objection to grant his request. 

" We would further remark to you that it is the 
desire of this chief to instruct you in the character of 
the true God, and that he will assist you against 
your ancient and inveterate enemies, the Mexicans. 
Our nation, regarding yours with brotherly kindness, 
counsels you to receive these strangers cordially. 
Their number is small, but their worth surpasses that 
of multitudes." The orator, having concluded his 
harangue, made his obeisance, and waited in silence 
the answer of the lords. One of the members of 
the council, after a short pause, spoke thus in the 
name of the rest : — 

" We thank you as the messengers of our friends, 
the Totonacas, and the other chiefs, that you have 
brought us intelligence of the extraordinary people 
who have come among you. In what manner it 
will be prudent for us to receive them, we are not 
determined, but after due deliberation, we will reply 
to your request. At present you may withdraw, 
and as soon as it shall be convenient, we will com- 
municate to you our decision." After this the 
envoys left the assembly. 

The senate immediately began to discuss the 
matter before them. Max-i-cat-zin, the chief of the 
senators, a man held in great reverence for his wis- 
dom, recommended that the Spaniards should be 
allowed peaceably to pass through the Tlascalan 
territory. " These strangers," said he, " according 
to the description given of them by the Chempoallese 
envoys, must be the heroes which our seers long ago 
foretold should come; and circumstances have lately 
indicated their appearance among us. The earth- 



56 THE TLASCALAN SENATE. 

quakes we have felt, the comet we have seen in the 
heavens, intimate that the fulfihuent of prophecy is 
at hand. If they are beings of more than mortal 
power, of what use would be our refusal to admit 
them into our country 1 , If we readily grant their 
request, we shall make friends of them ; if we refuse 
it, they will become our foes, and entering by force, 
will bring unknown misfortunes upon us ; and our 
enemies the Mexicans, will exult in our folly, which 
will have brought down upon ourselves the just 
anger of the gods." 

This argument was heard with applause ; but Xi- 
co-ten-cat, a man of equal authority \vith Max-i-cat- 
zin, immediately opposed it. " Our law," answered 
that aged warrior, " enjoins upon us hospitality to 
our friends, but not to our enemies. The men who 
have approached us, seem to me, to be monsters 
cast up from the sea, whose waters could not endure 
them, rather than good beings descended from 
heaven, as some have vainly imagined. Can they 
be gods who are greedy of gold ? And what may 
we not dread from them in a country so poor as this, 
in which we are destitute even of salt ? If they are 
mortal men, they are but a few ; the power of the 
Tlascalans can easily overcome them if they should 
assail us. If we resist them, and they should prove 
to be gods, surely they will forgive men who defend 
their country." 

These opposite opinions divided the councillors, 
till Tem-il-ol-te-cat, another of the senators, sug- 
gested a different course. He proposed that an 
answer of peace should be sent to the Spaniards, 
but that, though permission to enter the country 
should be given them, the Otomies, a tribe of In- 
dians dwelling among the Tlascalans, should meet 
them on the frontier, and force them badi, and that 



WAR WITH THE TLASCALANS. 57 

the Tlascalans should lay the blame of this measure 
upon the former people, pretending that they acted 
without the authority of the Tlascalans. 

In all warfare, even among civilized nations, de- 
ceptions, called stratagems, are considered fair; 
though, as mankind grow wise and better, it may be 
hoped that wars and all their effects will cease. The 
despicable duplicity recommended by the wily Tlas- 
calan lord, was adopted, and the nation suffered 
severely for it. The safer course would have been 
to suffer the Spaniards to pass, as they had request- 
ed. It would neither be entertaining nor useful to 
relate all that passed between the Spaniards and the 
Tlascalans. 

They had several engagements, and the war ended 
at length, as wars between Europeans and people of 
inferior skill in arms usually end. Mind is stronger 
than physical force. Fore-thought, ingenuity first 
exerted in the invention of weapons, and afterwards 
in the use of them ; what is called military disci- 
plinCf that is, talent in officers to command soldiers 
how to conduct themselves, and willing obedience 
on the part of the soldiers, secure victories over vast 
multitudes who have no such arms, nor authority, 
nor submission to order, among themselves. 

The Tlascalan chiefs quarrelled ; the forces of 
Cortez submitted implicitly to his orders ; the former 
were defeated, and the latter prevailed. While the 
Spaniards were detained in Tlascala, forcing a pas- 
sage to the capital of Montezuma, that monarch, 
hearing of the contest, was alarmed for his own 
security. To relieve his apprehensions, Monte- 
zuma called a council of state with whom to concert 
measures for the tranquillity of the kingdom. The 
king's counsellors were the neighbouring king of 



58 THE TLASCALANS SUBDUED. 

Tezcuco, a Mexican prince, named Cuit-la-haut-zin ; 
and other nobles of high rank. 

This council expressed different opinions, but the 
majority agreed it was best for Montezuma to 
send other gifts to Cortez, and to urge him to for- 
bear from entering his dominions. Accordingly, 
ambassadors departed from the city of Mexico, bear- 
ing gifts and messages to the Spaniards, similar to 
those which had been sent to Vera Cruz, and with 
the same success. Cortez, as he was wont, was 
gracious in his reception to the Mexican ambassa- 
dors. He had not yet made peace with the Tlasca- 
lans, and he invited the envoys to remain with him 
for some time, being desirous to exhibit the terror of 
his arms to them. 

" An occasion to do this soon presented itself ; and 
a final battle between the Spaniards and Tlascalans, 
was fought in the presence of the two Mexican lords. 
The Tlascalans became convinced that to prolong 
the war was a wanton waste of their own lives, and 
therefore they deputed Xi-co-ten-cat, their general, 
to wait upon Cortez, and to offer him conditions of 
peace. The Tlascalan general did not willingly 
assume this function, because he had been one of 
the chief promoters of the war, but the senate ap- 
pointed him to the service, and therefore he under- 
took it. 

Xi-co-ten-cat was accompanied to the Spanish 
camp by a numerous retinue, and there announced 
to the general that he was come in the name of the 
Tlascalan republic to offer him a sincere and per- 
manent peace. Xi-co-ten-cat further remarked, that 
his nation was poor ; that a little gold and a few 
bales of cotton, were the only gifts they had to 
bestow, that he had brought them, and he hoped 
they would be acceptable to him ; and he hoped 



THE TLASCALANS. 59 

also, that from that time, all hostility might cease 
between the two nations, and he concluded by invi- 
ting Cortez to pay a visit to their capital. 

Cortez acceded to the peace proposed by the 
Tlascalans, and their general returned to his city to 
report his success. Immediately after the depar- 
ture of Xi-co-ten-cat, two ambassadors from other 
principalities, which like Tlascala had been depend- 
encies of Mexico, but which had revolted, and were 
confederated with the Tlascalans against Monte- 
zuma, paid their respects to Cortez. The princes 
of these revolted nations, had sent to him to pro- 
pose to unite their armies to his for the conquest 
of Mexico, and Cortez promised that, at a suitable 
time he would gladly accept of their offer. 

Six days after, peace was concluded between 
Cortez and the Tlascalans, the four principal lords 
of the republic were transported upon litters to the 
Spanish camp, and were received by Cortez with 
every demonstration of respect. During the visit, 
Cortez prevailed upon them to acknowledge them- 
selves subjects of the king of Spain, and having 
done this, he gave his consent the next day to re- 
move to their city. 

The adherents of Cortez did not much like to 
place themselves in the midst of such untried friends, 
and spoke rather of returning to Vera Cruz, but 
Cortez set before them his own example of encoun- 
tering and surmounting dangers, and they finally 
consented to attend him to Tlascala. The day on 
which the Spaniards entered Tlascala, is one of the 
memorable in the history of the conquest of New 
Spain; it was September 23d, 1519 ; and it was long 
held in remembrance for the festivity with which it 
was celebrated. 

The following is nearly Clavigero's account of 



60 TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO TLASCALA. 

it : " The four lords of the republic came out to 
meet the Spaniards, with a numerous concourse of 
the nobility, and so great a crowd of inhabitants, 
that some have affirmed they amounted to a hun- 
dred thousand people ; this assemblage being pro- 
bably collected from an extensive region round 
about Tlascala, whose inhabitants were attracted by 
the fame of the extraordinary strangers. In all the 
streets of Tlascala, arches of branches adorned with 
flowers, were erected, and a confused sound of ac- 
clamations was heard on every side ; and so great 
was the rejoicing, that it appeared to be rather the 
triumph of the republic itself, than the entry of a 
conqueror. Cortez, in his letters to the emperor, 
states that so populous was Tlascala, that he pre- 
sumed as many as thirty thousand persons appeared 
daily in the city, and the population of the province 
was estimated at five hundred thousand." 






CHAPTER V. 

While Cortez continued at Tlascala, he thought 
it his duty to inculcate the doctrines of the Catholic 
religion, and he would have destroyed the idols of 
that city as he had done those of Chempoalla, but 
his chaplain, Olmedo, a man of good sense, re- 
presented to him that acts of violence never con- 
vinced men of any error, and that they must renounce 
their false notions willingly. In consequence of 
this good advice, Cortez only argued with these 
idolatrous people upon the folly and cruelty of their 
worship. 



RELIGION OF THE TLASCALANS. 61 

" There is," said he to them, " but one God, who 
requires all men, every where, to worship him, and 
he is displeased with all those who serve any other 
god. Now, that you are informed of this, it becomes 
you to destroy your idols." " Your god," answered 
they, " is very good to youj and so are our gods to 
us. Our god, Cam-axrtle, grants us victory over 
our enemies ; our goddess, Mat-lal-cue-ji, sends us 
rain, and preserves us from the inundations of the 
river Zahuapan. Should we forsake the worship of 
them, they would be angry with us, and would punish 
us.'- 

Cortez, however, was not discouraged in his 
purpose of converting the Tlascalans by their perti- 
nacious adherence to their accustomed faith ; and he 
succeeded so far as to induce the senate to order to 
be broken, the cages in which were confined certain 
prisoners of war, who were kept to be sacrificed on 
solemn festivals, and to set at liberty their intended 
victims. After remaining twenty days at Tlascala, 
Cortez thought to proceed in his enterprise. 

During his stay at Tlascala, Cortez had procured 
certain information of the wealth and military defen- 
ces of the kingdom of Mexico, and all that he learned 
fixed his resolution to invade that kingdom. The 
ambassadors last sent from Mexico, still remained 
with the Spaniards, and they proposed to the gene- 
ral to take his route through the city of Cholula, 
where his people might be well accommodated. 
The Tlascalans advised Cortez to take another way, 
because they said the Cholulans were a treacherous 
people, and might attack his army. 

Cortez was not afraid of defeat, so he did not 

shun danger ; and, contrary to the admonition of 

his good friends the Tlascalans, he marched for 

Cholula at the head of six thousand men. At a 

6 



62 CITY OF CHOLULA. 



short distance from Cholula, the Spanish general 
was met by a procession of the inhabitants, con- 
sisting of the principal lords and priests with cen- 
sers in their hands, and attended by musicians. 
Cortez had previously sent messengers to the 
Cholulans to inform them that he should visit their 
city, and that he expected them to acknowledge 
allegiance to the king of Spain, and this they had 
agreed to. 

Cholula was then a populous city, eighteen miles 
distant from Tlascala, and sixty-four miles east from 
Mexico. Cortez, in his letters to the emperor 
Charles, which are still preserved, described Cho- 
lula to contain forty thousand houses. Its ma- 
nufactures were, certain rude vessels of clay, 
cotton cloth, and sundry ornamental articles, used 
in the decoration of the persons and houses of the 
more opulent classes. " Cholula," says Clavigero, 
*' was the Rome of that country." — He means, the 
metropolis of the religious. Rome, the residence 
of the Pope, is held in honour all over Europe, as 
the habitation of him whom Cathohc Christians call 
the visible head of the church. 

Cholula was the favourite residence of Quet-zal- 
cot, while he dwelt among men, and now, that he 
was become a god, this city was consecrated to his 
worship. A holy hill had been artificially formed, 
and upon its summit was erected a great temple, in 

!iour of this god, to which pilgrims from distant 
places often resorted. At Cholula the army was 
tolerably provided for, but the Chempoallese allies 
soon perceived manifestations of conspiracy against 
Cortez, and observed the Cholulans, among other 
artifices, making pit-falls to disable the horses, and 
collecting stones upon the house tops. 

Marina, throughout the conquests of Cortez. 



TREACHERY OF THE CHOLULANS, 63 

seems to have been remarkably sagacious, and most 
faithfully devoted to the Spanish cause. On this 
emergency, she was eminently serviceable. A fe- 
male of high rank at Cholula had been introduced to 
Marina : the vivacity and understanding of the latter 
recommended her to every one ; she was, as has 
appeared in this history, particularly cherished by 
the Spaniards, and her intimate acquaintance with 
them and their customs, served to make her conver- 
sation full of novelty and entertainment when she 
discoursed with her own country people concerning 
the strangers. 

When the Cholulans were revolving plans among 
themselves for the destruction of the Spaniards, the 
female friend of Marina resolved to save her from 
the meditated ruin, and in order to do so, sent for, 
and requested her to stay at her house. Marina 
replied, she would gladly accept the kind invita- 
tion of her friend, but that she was wanted every 
moment, as she alone, of the general's attendants, 
could comprehend the language of those among 
whom they sojourned ; that she was forced to com- 
municate what she heard to Aguilar, and he, in his 
turn, translated her speech into Spanish, with which, 
however, she was daily becoming more familiar. 

The benevolent Cholulan, on account of her de- 
votedness to the Spaniards, not being able to prevail 
with Marina, then told her, that her life was in dan- 
ger, and that she must perish with her new friends 
if she did not abandon them, for the Cholulans had 
laid a plan to fall upon and massacre the whole 
army of Cortez ; but Marina was no sooner apprized 
of the conspiracy than she sought out Cortez, and 
communicated the fact to him. Cortez, always pre- 
pared for every exigency, was not dismayed on 
receiving this intelligence, but calling together his 



64 THEIR PUNISHMENT. 

officers, consulted them, and then followed his own 
judgment. The officers conceived it was best to 
retreat to Tlascala, or some other place, but Cortez 
resolved rather to punish the treachery of the Cho- 
lulans with exemplary severity, that he might prove 
to the nations among whom they were come, that 
Spanish vengeance was not only terrible but sure. 

Cortez, in pursuit of his plan, informed the Cho- 
lulans that he had fixed upon the following day for 
his departure from their city ; and they, on their part, 
pretended that they would gladly supply his army 
with whatever should be necessary for them. Yet 
so much engaged were the Cholulans in the intended 
massacre, that in order to propitiate their gods, they, 
on the same day, sacrificed ten children, five boys, 
and five girla. 

The fatal morning arrived. The Spaniards pre- 
pared their horses, their artillery, and their arms, and 
formed themselves in order in the square of their 
late dwelling, where it was intended that the onset 
should commence. The Cholulan chiefs with about 
forty nobles, and numerous baggage-men, repaired 
about daybreak to this square under pretence of 
assisting the Spaniards. All these entered the 
houses, and began to lift the baggage. At that 
moment the Spanish guards, as they had been or- 
dered, fell upon the Cholulans, and put them into 
confinement. Cortez instantly rode into the square, 
and found there assembled a band of men in battle 
array. 

" Traitors," said he in a determined voice, and 
in a most terrific manner, for he was clad in armour, 
and mounted upon a powerful horse, " I have en- 
deavoured to make you my friends. I came peace- 
ably into your city. Your enemies, the Tlascalans, 
were my auxiliaries, and not to ofiend you, I caused 



SLAUGHTER OF THE CHOLULANS. 65 



them to encamp at a distance from Cholula ; and 
without any provocation or hostility on my part, you 
have conspired to murder me and my people. Do 
you expect to escape my just vengeance ? No, I 
call heaven and earth to witness, that your lives shall 
pay for your perfidy." If these words, uttered in a 
strange tongue, were not exactly intelligible, the 
meaning was plain — it was nothing less than the 
destruction of those who had formed a similar pur- 
pose, and Cortez hastened to fulfil his word. 

Having spoken thus, and made a signal for attack, 
by the discharge of a musket, the Spaniards fell with 
such fury upon the Cholulans that not one in the 
-square was left alive. The Tlascalans, who had 
been stationed at a short distance from the city, and 
who hated the Cholulans, as soon as they learned 
that a battle was begun, rushed like so many fa- 
mished wolves among them, and increased, with 
unsparing ferocity, the slaughter of the day. Six 
thousand Cholulans perished, and the survivors, 
confessing themselves conquered, submitted to 
Cortez, who took the greater part of the gems, gold, 
and silver, wearing apparel, ornamental feathers, 
and salt, that he could find in the city. Besides 
destroying so many lives, the Spaniards set fire to 
innumerable dwellings and temples, which were con- 
sumed. 

After he had achieved this victory, Cortez per- 
mitted the Cholulans to go out to the woods and 
mountains, and bring back their unfortunate wives, 
parents, and children, many of whom had escaped 
in their fright, and were wandering about in solitary 
places. He next purified the temples, and set free 
the victims reserved for sacrifices, and made a per- 
manent peace between the Tlascalans and Cholu- 
lans. 

6* 



66 Montezuma's dread 



Of the modem Cholula, a recent traveller gives 
the following account : — " The city of Cholula, its 
great square, or market-place, crowded with In- 
dians (resembling what it was in the time of Cortez,) 
with its numerous churches, gardens, &c. lay at our 
feet, and as the delighted eye ranged over the ex- 
tensive plain, countless churches, haciendas, plan- 
tations of aloes, and corn-fields, met the view, which 
was bounded by the blue mountains, in the midst of 
which arose the gigantic Orizaba, and the majestic 
snow-crowned Popocatapetl." 

During the absence of Cortez from. Vera Cruz, 
his garrison there was entrusted to an officer named 
Juan de Escalente. About thirty-six miles from Vera 
Cruz was a city subject to Montezuma, called Nauht- 
lan, whose governor was Quah-po-po-ca. When 
Montezuma learned that Cortez was removed from 
the vicinity of Nauht-lan, he sent instructions to 
Quah-po-po-cato demand oftheTotonacas the tribute 
they had formerly refused to pay. Quah-po-po-ca 
instantly obeyed his sovereign's order, but the Toto- 
nacas replied to the collectors, that they had become 
subjects of the king of Spain, and owed nothing to 
any other king. 

This provocation was sufficient for Quah-po-po-ca, 
and he instantly proceeded to arms, but the com- 
mander at Vera Cruz took part with the Totonacas, | 
and a battle ensued, in which the Spaniards were '< 
conquerors, though Juan de Escalente lost his life. 
Intelligence of this was conveyed to Cortez, and he 
laid up the whole in his heart to serve for an occa- 
sion of contention when he should find it desirable 
to make one. 

Having no more to do where he was, Cortez pur- 
sued his way to the city of Mexico. Montezuma 
heard of his approach, and though Cortez had de- 



OP THE SPANIARDS. 67 



clared no emnity against him, the king awaited his 
coming with fear and trembhng ; and while he yet 
might be turned from his course, Montezuma sent 
other ambassadors and greater gifts than any he had 
yet bestowed upon the Spanish general, and more 
urgently than ever, dissuaded him from entering the 
capital. All this had no effect upon Cortez. 

The terror which Montezuma felt in the expecta- 
tion of the Spaniards' coming, was increased by the 
representation of priests, who governed him. The 
priests declared that some great calamity hung over 
the nation, and that the most frightful dreams con- 
tinually foreboded to them the evils that were im- 
pending. This served to alarm the weak-minded 
and superstitious Montezuma. That king had a 
palace, which was used for occasions of grief, and 
in the agony of his mind, he would withdraw himself 
thither, and betaking himself to fasting and prayer, 
would supplicate the gods to protect his people from 
the formidable strangers about to enter his capital. 

Montezuma at this unhappy period, could not de- 
termine what reception would be wise and safe to 
give to the strangers, if Cortez should persevere in 
his purpose ; and in order to act with discretion, he 
consulted his nephew, the tributary king of Tezcuco, 
and some of his chief counsellors. Some of these 
advisers decided that it would be expedient to admit 
the Spaniards, but to watch them, and to resist them 
if it should be necessary. The rest determined that 
it would be a more certain defence, to prevent them 
by force of arms from entering the city. 

Meanwhile, Cortez and his armament advanced 
towards Mexico ; sometimes delayed on the way, 
by chiefs of the provinces through which they passed. 
These complained bitterly of the oppressions which 
they suffered, and offered themselves as willing sub- 



68 CORTEZ VISITED BY 



jects of the king of >Spain, and many of the natives 
entered the service of Cortez. *' In short," to use 
the words of Clavigero, " the farther the Spaniards 
advanced into the country, the more they continued 
to increase their forces ; like a rivulet which, by the 
accession of other streams, swells in its course into 
a large river." 

Cortez having advanced almost to the city of 
Mexico, rested his army for a short time. At a little 
village near the lake of Chalco, he received a visit 
from the king of Tezcuco. Before he made his 
appearance, certain messengers, like the heralds of 
antiquity, came forward and announced that the 
king of Tezcuco purposed to pay his respects to the 
illustrious strangers, who had come so far to visit 
his uncle, the renowned Montezuma. 

" It was not long before the king himself joined 
them, borne in a litter, adorned with fine feathers, 
on the shoulders of four of his domestics, and accom- 
panied by a numerous and brilliant retinue of Mexi- 
can and Tezcucan nobility. As soon as he came 
in sight of the Spanish general, he alighted from the 
litter and began walking on foot, preceded by some 
of his servants, who industriously removed out of 
his way every thing which could either offend his 
feet or his sight. The Spaniards were astonished 
at this pomp, and from thence began to form con- 
jectures of the parade and grandeur which must 
attend the king of Mexico. Cortez went to the 
door of his dwelling to meet him, and saluted him 
with a profound bow, which was returned by the 
king in touching the earth with his right hand and 
then lifting it to his mouth. He entered with an air 
of lordliness and majesty into one of the halls, sat 
himself down, congratulated the general and his 
officers on their happy arrival, and signified the par- 



THE KING OF TEZCUCO. 69 

ticular pleasure his uncle the king of Mexico had in 
forming a friendship and correspondence with the 
monarch of the east." 

" But, gracious stranger," continued the king ot 
Tezcuco, " if you desire to please the sovereign ot 
this land, you will accept his gifts, without seeking 
his presence. He has offered whatever his domi- 
nions can afford for your comfort, and he requests 
that being satisfied with his hberality, you would 
return to the king your master, and leave this king- 
dom undisturbed." 

" I lament, gracious king," replied Cortez, " that 
I am compelled to oppose your wishes, and that I 
feel myself bound to enter the capital of the great 
Montezuma ; but, should I fail to meet him face to 
face, after having traversed the long distance be- 
tween the great sea and his royal abode, I should 
offend the king my master, nor should I dare to meet 
his displeasure. I intend no injury to the king of 
Mexico, or his subjects ; permit me, therefore, to 
offer him my respects in person ; upon which, allow 
me to say, I am fully resolved." All this discourse 
was carried on by means of interpreters. 

Finding remonstrance vain, the king of Tezcuco 
replied : " If it is so, ive will see each other at court ,*" 
upon which taking polite leave, after being presented 
with some European toys, he departed, and left be- 
hind him a part of the nobility, that they might 
attend Cortez on his journey. 

Cortez immediately proceeded to Cuit-la-hu-ac, 
*' a city founded upon a little island in the lake of 
Chalco, which, though small, was accounted by 
Cortez the most beautiful he had hitherto seen. 
This city communicated with the main land by 
means of two large commodious roads, constructed 
on the lake ; the one to the south, which was two 



70 MARCH FOR MEXICO. 

miles in length ; the other to the north, which was 
more than two miles in length. The Spaniards 
passed along, delighted to see the multitude and 
beauty of the cities situated on the lake, the temples 
and towers which rose above the other buildings, 
the trees and shrubbery which beautified the inha- 
bited places, the fields and floating gardens of the 
lake, and the innumerable little vessels plying upon 
it ; but at the same time, not a little timorous at see- 
ing themselves surrounded by an immense crowd of 
people, which collected there from all places to 
observe them ; on which account Cortez command- 
ed his people to proceed in good order, and to be 
prepared for accidents, and cautioned the Indians 
not to obstruct the way nor come too near the ranks, 
unless they chose to be treated as enemies. In 
Cuit-la-hu-ac they were well accommodated and 
entertained." Here the lord of the city complained 
of the tyranny of the king of Mexico, and informed 
Cortez of the consternation into which that king and 
his court were thrown, by the expectation of his 



^^^vf^ ^9 04^*'*^ 



CHAPTER VI. 

Before the exploits of Cortez shall be further 
related, to make the history perfectly intelligible, it 
will be necessary to know other particulars of the 
nations, and the countries which he invaded. 

Mexico, as the country is now called, at the time 
of the conquest was divided into many states and 
provinces ; the chief of these was the kingdom of 



CITY OF MEXICO. 71 

Mexico, which, including its dependent provinces, 
extended from the 14th to the 21st degree of north 
latitude. The finest district of this country was the 
vale of Mexico, where the capital is situated. This 
valley is surrounded by beautiful and verdant moun- 
tains, and its circumference is about a hundred and 
twenty miles. 

A great part of the valley is occupied by two 
lakes, one of which contains salt, the other is of pure 
water. The northernmost and larger lake is Tez- 
cuco ; the southernmost is Chalco. [The lake of 
Tezcuco is seventeen miles from east to west ; that 
of Chalco is twelve miles in the same direction, and 
six from north to south.] The circumference of both 
lakes, inclusively, is ninety miles. The city of 
Mexico was built in the lake Tezcuco, upon 
an island, and connected to the mainland by a 
causeway constructed by the natives. Besides the 
city of Mexico, previously to the conquest, in the 
vale of Mexico were forty cities, and many villages 
and hamlets ; all filled with a numerous population. 
It is supposed that the present Indian population of 
Mexico, does not exceed a tenth of the numbers 
existing there in the time of the invasion. 

In respect to the understanding and knowledge of 
the Mexicans, there can be no doubt from their 
buildings, and the comforts they possessed, that they 
were a, people susceptible of improvement. The 
accounts given of those of the present time, show 
that they are now in a condition nearly as good, and 
that they exhibit as much intelligence as the pea- 
santry of Europe. 

** The state of civilization among the Mexicans, 
when they were first known to the Spaniards, was 
much superior to that of the Spaniards themselves 
when they were first known to the Phoenicians ; to 



72 HISTORY OF THE 

that of the Gauls, when first known to the Greeks ; 
or that of the Germans and Britons, when first 
known to the Romans." The number who have 
been instructed in learning, is small, but the profi- 
ciency of those has been equal to that of white men. 
In the south, at the present time, the natives are 
more industrious and ingenious ; in the norths they 
are more enterprising and warlike. 

From the traditions of the first settlement of 
Mexico, it is believed the ancestors of the modern 
Mexicans emigrated from a more northern portion of 
the American continent. The Toltecas were a tribe 
more intelligent than the rest. According to their 
own account of their nation, their ancestors, dwelling 
in a cold and desolate region, in the sixth century 
of our era, departed from the land which they had 
occupied from time immemorial in search of some 
more favoured country. 

For the space of one hundred and four years, 
these wanderers and their descendants sojourned 
in different places, always continuing towards the 
south in the direction they took. Wherever they 
remained for a season, they erected rude cabins, and 
sowed the land with corn and other seeds. At length 
they rested in the vale of Mexico, and founded the 
Toltecan kingdom. They collected into cities, 
chose a king, and lived under established laws. 
They practised the casting of gold and silver, and 
the cutting and polishing of gems, and became the 
instructers and civilizers of the neighbouring tribes. 

The Atzecas were the immediate ancestors of the 
Mexicans, or the inhabitants of the city and its 
environs. They are supposed, Hke the Toltecas, to 
have abandoned the northern part of the continent 
in pursuit of a milder climate, and finally to have 
established themselves in the valley of Mexico* 



CITY OF MEXICO. 73 

This people have since been called Mexicans, from 
their god Mexitli. They are supposed to have laid 
the foundation of the city of Mexico, in the year of 
the Christian era, 1325. That city was at first 
called Tenochtitlan. 

The foundation of Mexico was commenced by 
the erection of an idol temple, and in the course of 
time, houses, palaces, and other temples were raised 
around it ; and many thousand inhabitants dwelt in 
the midst of them. When Cortez invaded his do- 
minions, Montezuma, the ninth king of Mexico, sat 
upon the throne. Mexico had then existed as a 
state a thousand years, but during the first ages, the 
people lived under an aristocracy. Until the year 
1352, the whole nation obeyed certain nobles, 
twenty in number. These were respected for their 
wisdom, and revered for their fatherly care of the 
people. 

At length, the example of the neighbouring states 
induced the Mexicans to desire a king ; and their 
choice fell upon a very good man, after whom Mon- 
tezuma was the ninth king in succession. The 
Mexicans were at first extremely poor, but by in- 
dustry and enterprise, they became powerful and 
opulent. At the time of the invasion, all the pro- 
vinces from the 14th to the 21st parallel of latitude, 
except Tlascala, were tributaries of the king of Mex- 
ico ; their submission, however, was reluctantly 
yielded ; and, as has been related in this history, 
Cortez found them more than half disposed to trans- 
fer their allegiance to the king of Spain ; so that, in 
fact, he had little to conquer but the city of Monte- 
zuma. 

Of the state and magnificence in which Monte- 
zuma lived, the following is the account given by 
Clafvigero : " All the servants of his palace consisted 
7 



74 SPLENDOUR OF 



of persons of rank. Besides those who constantly 
lived in it, every morning six hundred feudatory 
lords and nobles came to pay court to him. They 
passed the whole day in the antechamber, where 
none of their servants were permitted to enter, con- 
versing in a low voice, and waiting the orders of 
their sovereign. The servants who accompanied 
those lords were so numerous as to occupy three 
small courts of the palace, and many waited in the 
streets. The women about the court were not less 
in number, including those of rank, servants, and 
slaves. All this numerous female tribe lived shut 
up in a kind of harem,* under the care of some 
noble matrons, who watched over their conduct ; as 
these kings were extremely jealous, and every piece 
of misconduct which happened in the palace, how- 
ever slight, was severely punished. 

" The forms and ceremonials introduced at court 
were another effect of the despotism of Montezuma. 
No one would enter the palace, either to serve the 
king, or to confer with him on any business, without 
pulling oft' his shoes and stockings at the gate. No 
person was allowed to appear before the king in any 
pompous dress, as it was deemed a want of respect 
to majesty ; consequently the greatest lords, except- 
ing the nearest relations of the king, stripped them- 
selves of the rich dress which they wore, or at least 
covered it with one more ordinary, to show their 
humility before him. All persons, on entering the 
hall of audience, and before speaking to the king, 
made three bows, saying at the first, Lord ; at the 
second. My Lord; and at the third. Great Lord. They 
spoke low, and with the head inclined, and received 
the answer which the king gave them, by means of 
his secretaries, as attentively and humbly as if it had 
* Harem signifies the women's house. 



MONTEZUMA. 75 



been the voice of an oracle. In taking leave, no 
person ever turned his back upon the throne. 

" The audience-hall served also for his dining- 
room. The table was a large pillow, and his seat 
a low chair. The table-cloth, napkins, and towels 
were of cotton, but very fine, white, and always per- 
fectly clean. The kitchen utensils were of the earth- 
enware of Cholula ; but none of these things ever 
served him more than once, as immediately after, he 
gave them to one of his nobles. The cups in which 
they prepared his chocolate, and other drinks of the 
cocoa, were of gold, or some beautiful sea shell, or 
naturally formed vessels curiously varnished. Three 
or four hundred noble youths carried this dinner in 
form ; presented it as soon as the king sat down to 
table, and immediately retired ; and, that it might 
not grow cold, every dish was accompanied with its 
chafing-dish. The king marked, with a rod which 
he had in his hand, the meats which he chose, and 
the rest were distributed among the nobles who were 
in the antechamber. Before he sat down, four of 
the most beautiful women presented water to him 
to wash his hands, and continued standing all the 
time of his dinner, together with six of his principal 
ministers, and his carver. 

" As soon as the king sat down to table, the car- 
ver shut the door of the hall, that none of the other 
nobles might see him eat. The ministers stood at 
a distance, and kept a profound silence, unless when 
they made answer to what the king said. The carver 
and the four women served the dishes to him, be- 
sides two others who brought him bread made of 
maize baked with eggs. He frequently heard music 
during the time of his meal, and was entertained 
with the humorous sayings of some deformed men 
whom he kept out of mere state. He showed much 



76 SPLENDOUR OF 



satisfaction in hearing them, and observed that, 
among their jests, they frequently pronounced some 
important truth. When his dinner was over he took 
tobacco mixed with liquid amber, in a pipe or reed 
beautifully varnished, and with the smoke of it put 
himself to sleep. 

" After having slept a little upon the same low 
chair, he gave audience, and Hstened attentively to 
all that was communicated to him, and answered 
every one by his ministers or secretaries. After 
giving audience, he was entertained with music, 
being much delighted with hearing the glorious 
actions of his ancestors sung. At other times he 
amused himself with seeing various games played. 
When he went abroad, he was carried on the shoul- 
ders of the nobles in a litter covered with a rich 
canopy, attended by a numerous retinue of courtiers ; 
and wherever he passed, every person stopped with 
their eyes shut, as if they feared to be dazzled with 
the splendour of majesty. When he alighted from 
the litter, to walk on foot, they spread carpets, that 
he might not touch the earth with his feet. 

" The grandeur and magnificence of his palaces, 
houses of pleasure, woods, and gardens, were cor- 
respondent to this majesty. The palace of his usual 
residence was a vast edifice of stone and lime, which 
had twenty doors to the public squares and streets ; 
three great courts, in one of which was a beautiful 
fountain ; several halls, and more than a hundred 
chambers. Some of the apartments had walls of 
marble and other valuable kinds of stone. The 
beams were of cedar, cypress, and other excellent 
woods, well finished and carved. 

" Two houses in Mexico he appropriated to ani- 
mals ; the one lor birds which did not live by prey ; 
the other for those of prey, quadrupeds, and reptiles. 



MONTEZUMA. 77 



In the latter were many low halls filled with a great 
number of strong wooden cages, m which lions, 
tigers, wolves, cayatoes and wild cats were confined, 
and all other kinds of wild beasts ; which were 
fed upon deer, rabbits, hares, and other animals. 

" Montezuma, who was not satisfied with having 
every sort of animal in his palace, also collected 
there all irregularly formed men, who, either from 
the colour of their hair or of their skin, or some other 
deformity in their persons, were oddities of their 
species. A humour this, however, not unattended 
with beneficial consequences, as it gave mainte- 
nance to a number of miserable objects, and deliver- 
ed them from the inhuman insults of their other 
fellow creatures. 

" All his palaces were surrounded with beautiful 
gardens, where there was every kind of beautiful 
flower, odoriferous herb, and medicinal plant. * He 
had likewise woods, enclosed with walls and fur- 
nished with variety of game, in which he frequently 
sported. One of these woods was upon an island 
in the lake, known at present, among the Spaniards, 
by the name of Piiion. 

" Of all these palaces, gardens, and woods, there 
is now remaining the wood of Chapoltepec only, 
which the Spanish viceroys have preserved for their 
pleasure. All the others were destroyed by the con- 
querors. 

" Not only the palaces, but all the other places of 
pleasure, were kept in exquisite order and neatness, 
even those which were seldom or never visited ; as 
there was nothing in which he took more pride than 
the cleanliness of his own person, and of every thing 
else which was his. He bathed regularly every day, 
and had baths, therefore, in all his palaces. Every 
■7* 



78 RELIGION AND PRACTICES 

day he wore four dresses ; and that which he once 
put off he never after used again : these were re- 
served as largesses for the nobles who served him, 
and the soldiers who behaved gallantly in war. 
Every morning, according to the accounts given by 
some historians, upwards of a thousand men were 
employed by him in sweeping and watering the 
streets of the city. 

*' In one of the royal buildings was an armory 
jfilled with all kinds of offensive and defensive arms 
which were made use of by those nations, with mili- 
tary ornaments and ensigns. He kept a surprising 
number of artificers at work, in manufacturing these 
and other things. He had numerous artists con- 
stantly busied likewise, namely, goldsmiths, mosaic 
workmen, sculptors, painters, and others. One whole 
district consisted solely of dancing masters, who 
were trained up to entertain him." 

Concerning the religion of this people, it has al- 
ready been told that in his progress to Mexico, 
Cortez witnessed the worship of idols, and saw pre- 
parations for human sacrifices, which he prevented. 
The same dreadful form of paganism, was also found 
in the city of Mexico. 

Of the great temple, it is related, that it " occupied 
the centre of the city ; and, together with the other 
temples and buildings annexed to it, comprehended 
ail that space upon which the great cathedral church 
now stands, part of the greater market-place, and 
part likewise of the streets and buildings around. 
Within the enclosure of the wall which encompassed 
it in a square form, the conqueror Cortez affirms 
that a town of five hundred houses might have stood. 
The wall, built of stone and lime, was very thick, 
eight feet high, crowned with battlements, in the 
form of niches, and ornamented with many stone 



OF THE MEXICANS. 79 

figures in the shape of serpents, whence it obtained 
the name of coatepcmtli, or the wall of serpents. It 
had four gates to the four cardinal points : the east- 
ern gate looked to a broad street which led to the 
lake of Tezcuco : the rest corresponded to the three 
principal streets of the city." 

Concerning funerals and some other practices, it 
is said by Clavigero, " There was no fixed place for 
burials : many ordered their ashes to be buried near 
to some temple or altar, some in the fields, and 
others in those sacred places of the mountains where 
sacrifices used to be made. The ashes of the kings 
and lords were, for the most part, deposited in the 
towers of the temples, especially in those of the 
greater temple. The tombs of those whose bodies 
had been buried entire, were deep ditches, formed 
with stone and lime, within which they placed the 
bodies in a sitting posture upon icpalli, or low seats, 
together with the instruments of their art or profes- 
sion. If it was the sepulchre of any military person, 
they laid a shield and sword by him ; if of a wo- 
man, a spindle, a weaver's shuttle, and a xicalli\ 
which was a certain naturally formed vessel, like a 
gourd. 

"In the tombs of the rich they put gold and jew'els, 
but all were provided with eatables for the long 
journey they had to make. The Spanish con- 
querors, knowing of the gold which was buried with 
the Mexican lords in their tombs, dug up several, 
and found considerable quantities of that precious 
metal. Cortez says, in his letters, that at one 
entry which he made into the capital, when it was 
besieged by his army, his soldiers found fifteen hun- 
dred castellanos, that is, two hundred and forty 
ounces of gold, in one sepulchre, which was in the 
tower of a temple. 



80 PAINTINGS OF TtlE MEXICANS. 

" All daily burned incense to their idols ; no house 
was without censer^s. The priests in the temple, 
fathers of families in their houses, and judges in 
their tribunals, whenever they pronounced sentence 
in an important cause, whether civil or criminal, 
offered incense to the four principal winds. But 
incense-offering among the Mexicans, and other 
nations of Anahuac,* was not only an act of religion 
towards their gods, but also a piece of civil cour- 
tesy to lords and ambassadors." 

The Mexican empire abounded in rude paintings, 
and in hieroglyphic writings, called the Atzec char- 
acter. Many of these paintings recorded the na- 
tional history and religious worship. The Spaniards 
destroyed great quantities of these ancient paintings, 
but some of them have been preserved, and may be 
found in the museums of Mexico, and of some Euro- 
pean countries. " The cloth on which they painted 
was made of the thread of the maguey, or aloe, or 
the palm icxotl, dressed skins, or paper. They 
made paper of the leaves of a certain species of 
aloe, steeped together like hemp, and afterwards 
washed, stretched, and smoothed. Mexican paper 
was similar in the thickness to the pasteboard of Eu- 
rope, but softer, smoother, and easy for writing." , 

The king of Mexico exhibited as much state as 
European sovereigns. His crown was a small 
mitre, or pointed cap, of which he had several of 
different materials — sometimes of feathers, beauti- 
fully wrought, and sometimes of gold. Whenever 
he went abroad he was attended by a great retinue, 
and preceded by a noble, whose office was to de- 
clare his approach. The power of the kings was 

* Anahuac was the ancient name of the valley of Mexico. 



MODE OF GOVERNMENT. 81 

different at different times. In the beginning of the 
monarchy, the king governed his people like a fa- 
ther; but when he had made conquests, and extended 
his empire from the gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, he 
imposed burdens upon his subjects, and lost the af- 
jection of many of them. 

He was not strictly an hereditary prince, but 
chosen. by law from the descendants of A-ca-ma- 
pit-zin, one of the most virtuous of the early kings. 
Four noblemen of high rank were the electors, and 
they did not fix their choice upon the eldest, but the 
wisest of the posterity of A-ca-ma-pit-zin. The 
election was also confirmed by the other lords of 
the empire, and by the tributary kings. 

The whole population of the kmgdom of Mexico 
was divided into nobility and common people. The 
nobihty were of two orders, the first and second. 
The first order comprehended about thirty famihes, 
the second included three hundred famihes. There 
were independent merchants and artizans, but the 
land of the empire appertained to the king and the 
nobles ; and it was occupied by a numerous class of 
labourers, who held the land which they cultivated 
from their lords, whom they also served in war. 
Property was hereditary. The king bestowed his 
estates as he pleased. Young persons, who have 
been instructed in history, will perceive that this 
tenure of property resembles the feudal system which 
prevailed in Europe during the middle ages. 

The vassals paid the thirtieth of their crops to 
their lords. The lords, to support his dignity, paid 
a certain tribute to the king, and the governors of 
provinces vied with each other which should make 
him the most magnificent presents. But the poli- 
tical state of this people was destined to a fatal re- 



82 TREATMENT OF CHILDREN. 

verse. It will appear in the subsequent part of this 
history, that the whole of this large country became 
subject to Spain ; that all ranks and dignities fell 
before the artillery of Cortez, and that the posterity 
of the lords of Mexico, as well as that of their slaves, 
now holds the very lowest rank of all the inhabitants 
of Spanish America. 

The management of their children, among the 
Mexicans, is quite as interesting as the accounts 
which are given of the treatment of young persons 
among the Greeks and Romans. As soon as an 
infant was born, a female, present upon the occa- 
sion, received it. She immediately immersed the 
little babe in a bath, at the same time uttering a 
Messing upon it, in words like these : " May this 
water of purification cleanse thee from all spot and 
blemish. May the gods give thee a good heart, and 
enable thee to lead a perfect life ;" and addressing a 
prayer to the goddess who was supposed to preside 
over the birth of children, the woman, as she hfted 
the child from the water, concluded, " May the gra- 
cious Chal-chi-cue-je preserve thee from all evils." 
A fortune-teller was next consulted concerning the 
future fate of the child, and his predictions were re- 
lied upon. 

When a child was about five days old, a cere- 
mony not unlike Christian baptism was performed. 
The relatives and friends of the child's parents were 
invited to assemble at their house, and if the parents 
could afford it, they made presents of apparel to their 
guests. If the father of the child was a soldier, and 
the infant was a boy, a little bow, four arrows, and 
all the armour, in miniature ^ which was worn by the 
military, were brought out and shown as articles in 
dicative of the child's future occupation. If the 



TREATMENT OP CHILDREN. 83 

parent vere not a soldier, the tools of his trade were 
brought out for the child. If the child was a girl, a 
little robe suitable for her, and a broom, a spindle, 
and such a loom as the women of the country used, 
all of a size proportioned to the baby, were pro- 
duced, instead of the toys proper to a boy. 

The company then attended the child in a sort of 
procession, carrying lighted torches into the open 
air, and the nurse laid down the babe, which she un- 
covered for the purpose, upon a little bed of grass. 
She then sprinkled it anew with water, and pro- 
nounced these words : " My child, the lords of 
heaven have sent thee into a dismal and calamitous 
world. Receive this water : without this element 
thou couldst not live." Having spoken thus, she 
raised the child, and offered him to all the gods, 
praying them to endow it with every virtue. 

The prayer which concluded this ceremony, was 
addressed to the sun and earth. " Sun !" exclaimed 
the nurse, " father of all that dwell upon earth, pre- 
serve this child ; and thou, foodful Earth, mother of 
all, sustain this thy son, (or daughter.) When this 
child shall die, may it enter heaven, and receive tho 
reward of a good life." She then put into the child's 
hand the small instrument suited to its sex. These 
emblematic toys were afterwards buried — those of 
the boys in a field, and those of the girls beneath a 
stone, like that used by the women in grinding corn, 
for these people had no mills as we have. 

The infant was afterwards clothed, and being laid 
in the cozolli, (cradle,) was commended to the god- 
dess of cradles, and to the god of night. The nurse 
prayed that the former might warm it in her bosom, 
and that the latter would refresh it with sweet sleep. 
After this the company feasted together. The 
names of children were taken from some circum- 



84 EDUCATION AMONG 

stance : as a child born at the appearance of a 
comet, would sometimes be called Bm'ning Star. 
The names of girls were often taken from flowers, 
as we sometimes call a girl Rose. The names of 
animals were given to boys, as among the liahans 
we hear of men called Leo, or Lion. 

The manner in which the Mexicans educated 
their children, deserves in many particulars to be 
imitated by civilized and Christian people. " They 
were accustomed from infancy to endure hunger, 
heat, and cold. When they attained five years of 
age, they were either consigned to the priests, in 
order that they might be brought up in the semina- 
ries, which was the general practice with the chil- 
dren of nobles, and even with those of the kings 
themselves ; or if they were to be educated at home, 
their parents began at that period to instruct them 
in the worship of their gods, and to teach them the 
forms by which they were to pray and implore their 
protection. They were led frequently to the temple, 
that they might become attached to religion. An 
abhorrence of vice, a modesty of behaviour, respect 
to superiors, and love of fatigue, were strongly in- 
culcated. They were even made to sleep upon a 
mat ; and were given no more food than the neces- 
sities of life required, nor any other clothing than 
that which decency demanded. 

" When they arrived at a certain age, they were 
instructed in the use of arms, and if their parents 
belonged to the army, they were led to the wars 
along with them, that they might learn the military 
art, and to banish fear from their minds, by habitu- 
ating themselves to danger. If their parents were 
husbandmen, or artists, they taught their children 
their own profession. Girls were learned to spin 
and weave, and obliged to bathe frequently, that 



THE MEXICANS. 85 

they might be always healthy and cleanly, and the 
universal maxim was to keep the young of both 
sexes constantly employed." 

One of the historians who has related the tradi- 
tions of this people as he had heard them, has given 
the following excellent discourse, which is suitable 
to all children every where, as the sum of the in- 
structions of a Mexican parent : " My son, God is 
thy father. He loves thee more than I do. Pray 
to him day and night. Reverence the aged. Hold 
no one in contempt. Comfort the distressed. Ho- 
nour thy parents with respect and service. Imitate 
not the example of those wicked sons who neither 
reverence their parents, nor listen to their instruc- 
tions. 

" Mock not the maimed, nor the deformed. De- 
spise not him who has committed a wicked action : 
pity him, and guard thyself lest thou fall into a like 
transgression. In conversation, when another 
speaks that which is wrong, correct him not rudely, 
but mildly. Spealc not too much, nor interrupt ano- 
ther's discourse. When any one converses with 
thee, hear him respectfully ; look not about you here 
and there, nor rise if thou art sitting. Such actions 
are marks of ill-breeding. 

^' Eat not voraciously, nor in thy food, if aught 
displeases thee, show thy displeasure. Share what 
thou hast with him who corneth to thy dwelling. 
When any thing is given thee be thankful ; if the 
gift be great, be not vain of it ; if it be small, do not 
despise it. Insult not the poor man. Remember, 
if thou art rich, the gods give thee all things. They 
have taken wealth from him, and bestowed it upon 
thee. Imitate them, and dispense to others what 
they have put into thy hands. 

" Support thyself by thy labour, then thy food will 



86 EDUCATION AMONG 

be sweet. Never tell a falsehood : a lie is a henious 
sin. Be not a news-carrier, nor a sower of discord. 
Spread not an evil report, lest it be a calumny of 
which thou shalt repent. Steal not. If thou art 
virtuous, thou wilt put the wicked to shame. Fol- 
low these counsels ; on thy obedience to them thy 
happiness depends." 

" My daughter," a mother would say, " I have fed 
thee with my life. My care has preserved thee ; 
thy father has wrought and polished thee like an 
emerald, that thou mayest appear to all eyes a jewel 
of virtue. Strive to be good, else thou wilt be de- 
spised of all. To toil and exertion thou wert born, 
therefore be not idle, but dihgent. Do not give 
thyself too much to sleep. When thy father or mo- 
ther summons thee, stay not to be twice called, lest 
thou offend them by thy slowness — go quickly. 
What thou undertakest do well. 

" Attempt not that thou canst not do. Deceive 
no one : the gods see all thy actions and all thy 
thoughts. Live in peace with all. Love sincerely, 
and thou wilt be equally loved in return. Be not 
greedy of gain. Envy not the blessings bestowed 
upon others — the gods distribute as they will. Keep 
not the company of the idle and the false-hearted ; 
they may infect thee by their example. Lose no- 
thing through negligence. Pay what thou owest. 

" Order thy household carefully. Make bread 
for thy family, and prepare thy husband's food. 
Wherever thou goest, let modesty attend thy steps. 
Give a courteous answer to them that salute thee.* 
If thy husband be foolish, be thou discreet. If thou 
neglectest my instructions, the fault will be thine 
and the evil also. Obey my words, and may the 
gods prosper thee." 

These surely were the admonitions of good pa- 



THE MEXICANS. 87 



rents, and such as no child can misunderstand or 
hold in contempt. The sons of the Mexicans ge- 
nerally learned the professions of their fathers. The 
young females were instructed in sewing, weaving, 
embroidery, and household business, by their mo- 
thers. 

Many children of both sexes from their infancy 
were dedicated to the temple service ; that is, to 
live in the courts of the temples, under the care of 
certain priests and matrons, away from their pa- 
rents ; their employment was to sweep the floors of 
the temples, to adorn them with branches and 
flowers, to burn incense, and to perform many other 
offices connected with the public worship. 



Of the Mexican poetry or oratory, it is difficult at 
the present time to form accurate notions, as they 
had no other letters than the Atzec characters ; but 
from the remains of the nation, and the researches 
which the Spanish historians made concerning them, 
it may be supposed that they exhibited that sensible 
and persuasive eloquence, which simple men, lovers 
of their country, and engaged for the welfare of their 
children and brothers, usually display in every 
country. 

It is said of them, that in the first ages of their 
history, they composed the poetry common to all 
partially civilized nations. This consists of hymns 
in praise of the gods, sung in the temples, and in 
sacred dances ; historical poems, celebrating the 
exploits of heroes ; amatory verses, addressed to 
young and beautiful females, and others teaching 
morality. 

Theatrical representations were common among 
the Mexicans, The annexed account of one of their 



88 THEATRICAL EXHIBITIONS, 

theatres, and their representation, is taken from a 
Spanish historian. 

" There was," he says, " in the area of the temple 
of this god a small theatre, thirty feet square, curi- 
ously whitened, which they adorned with boughs, 
and fitted up with the utmost neatness, surrounding 
it with arches made of flowers and feathers, from 
which were suspended many birds, rabbits, and 
other pleasing objects ; where, after having dined, 
the whole of the people assembled, the actors ap- 
peared, and exhibited burlesque characters, feigning 
themselves deaf, sick with colds, lame, blind, crip- 
pled, and addressing the idol for a return of health : 
the deaf people answering at cross purposes, those 
who had colds coughing and spitting, and the lame 
halting ; all recited their complaints and misfortunes, 
which produced infinite mirth among the audience. 

" Others appeared under the names of different 
little animals, some in the disguise of beetles, some 
like toads, some like lizards, and upon encountering 
each other, reciprocally explained their employments, 
which was highly satisfactory to the people, as they 
performed their parts with infinite ingenuity. Several 
little boys also belonging to the temple, appeared in 
the disguise of butterflies, and birds of various co- 
lours, and mounting upon the trees which were fixed 
there on purpose; the priests threw little balls of 
earth at them with slings, occasioning incidents of 
much humour and entertainment to the spectators. 
All the spectators then made a grand dance, which 
terminated the festival. This took place at their 
principal festivals only." The description which 
Acosta here gives, calls to our recollection the first 
scenes among the Greeks, and we doubt not that if 
the Mexican empire had endured a century or two 
longer, their theatre would have been reduced to a 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 89 

better form, as the Grecian theatre improved itself 
but slowly and by degrees. 

** Their music was more imperfect than their po- 
etry. They had no stringed instruments. All their 
music consisted in horns, sea-shells, and little flutes 
or pipes, which made a shrill sound. The Huehuetl, 
or Mexican drum, was a cylinder of wood, more 
than three feet high, curiously carved and painted on 
the outside, covered above with the skin of a deer, 
well dressed and stretched, which they tightened or 
slackened occasionally, to make the sound more 
sharp or deep. They struck it only with their fin- 
gers, but it required infinite dexterity in the striker. 
The Teponaztli, which is used to this day among the 
Indians, is also cylindrical and hollow, but all of 
wood, having no skin about it, nor any opening but 
two slits lengthways in the middle, parallel to, and at 
a little distance from each other. It is sounded by 
beating the space between those two slits with two 
little sticks, similar to those which are made use of 
for modern drums, only that their points are covered 
with ule, or elastic gum, to soften the sound. 

*' The size of this instrument is various ; some are 
so small as to be hung about the neck ; some of a 
middling size, and others so large as to be upwards 
of five feet long. The sound which they yield is 
melancholy, and that of the largest is so loud, that it 
may be heard at the distance of two or three miles. 
To the accompaniment of those instruments, the 
Mexicans sung their hymns and sacred music. Their 
singing was harsh and offensive to European ears ; 
but they took so much pleasure in it themselves, 
that on festivals, they continued singing the whole 
day." 

Dancing was among their accomplishments. In 
some dances only men displayed themselves, in 
8* 



90 FEATS OF STRENGTH 

others only women. " On such occasions, the no-- 
bles put on thek most pompous dresses, adorned 
themselves with bracelets, ear-rings, and various 
pendants of gold, jewels, and fine feathers, and car- 
ried in one hand a shield covered with the most 
beautiful plumes, or a fan made of feathers ; and in 
the other an Jljacaxili, which is a certain little ves- 
sel, resembling a helmet, round or oval in shape, 
having many little holes, and containing a number 
of little stones which they shook together, accom- 
panying the sound, which is not disagreeable, with 
their musical instruments. The populace disguised 
themselves, under various figures of animals, in 
dresses made of paper, or feathers, or skins." 

" The exhibitions of the Mexicans were not con- 
fined to the theatre and dancing. They had various 
games, not only for certain fixed seasons and public 
occasions, but also for the diversion and relaxation 
of private individuals. Amongst the public games, 
the race was one in which they exercised themselves 
from childhood. In the second month, and pos- 
sibly also at other times, there were military games, 
among which the warriors represented to the people 
a pitched battle. All those sports were most useful 
to the state, for besides the innocent pastime which 
they afforded to the people, they gave agility to their 
limbs, and accustomed them to the fatigues of 
war. 

" The exhibition of the flyers which was made on 
certain great festivals, and particularly in secular 
years, was, though of less public benefit, more cele- 
brated than all others. They sought in the woods 
for an extremely lofty tree, which, after stripping it 
of its branches and bark, they brought to the city, 
and fixed in the centre of some large square. They 
cased the point of the tree in a wooden cylinder, 



1f ^ 




-■^'\yi 



^^m -- 




mmX-Z-CAM. ■: Ci^AI^IEK. 



AND AGILITY. 91 



which, on account of some resemblance in its shape, 
the Spaniards called a mortar. From this cylinder 
hung four strong ropes, which served to support a 
square frame. In the space between the cylinder 
and the frame, they fixed four other thick ropes, 
which they twisted as many times round the tree as 
there were revolutions to be made by the flyers. 

"These ropes wei-e drawn through four holes, 
made in the middle of the four planks of which the 
frame consisted. The four principal flyers, dis- 
guised like eagles, herons, and other birds, mounted 
the tree with great agility, by means of a rope which 
was laced about it from the ground up to the frame ; 
from.jpie frame they mounted one at a time succes- 
sively upon the cylinder, and having danced there a 
little, they tied themselves round with the ends of 
the ropes, which were drawn through the holes of 
the frame, and launching with a spring fi'om it, began 
their flight with their wings expanded. The action 
of their bodies put the frame and the cylinder in mo- 
tion ; the frame by its revolutions graduallyuntwisted 
the cords by which the flyers swung ; so that as the 
ropes lengthened, they made so much the greater 
circles in their flight. Whilst these tour were flying, 
a fifth danced upon the cylinder, beating a little 
drum, or waving a flag, without the sm.allest appre- 
hension of the danger he was in of being precipi- 
tated from such a height. 

" The others who were upon the frame (there 
having been ten or twelve persons generally who 
mounted) as soon as they saw the flyers in their last 
revolution, precipitated themselves by the same 
ropes, in order to reach the ground at the same time 
amidst the acclamations of the populace. Those 
who precipitated themselves in this manner by the 
ropes, that they might make a still greater display of 



92 COIN OF THE MEXICANS. 

their agility, frequently passed from one rope to ano- 
ther, at that part where, on account of the little dis- 
tance between them, . it was possible for them to do 
so." 

Having described something of the political state, 
the morals, the manners, and pleasures of the Mex- 
ican people, it will afford a more perfect conception 
of them to detail the principal means by which they 
subsisted. These were agriculture, the manufac- 
ture of every article necessary for clothing, of all 
utensils employed in household operations, and of 
all tools required in the arts, and the preparation of 
sundry kinds of food, dye-stuffs, and drugs. Perfect 
savages live by the chace, and by robbing one ano- 
ther. Partially civilized men live like civilized men, 
by ingenuity, industry, and the exchange or pur- 
chase and sale of what they have, and what they 
want. All that they make is less perfect in its kind 
than the articles used by the highly civilized, but 
they are equally produced and distributed by labour 
and commerce. 

A peaceable and prosperous trade was carried 
through all the provinces of the Mexican empire. 
*' Their commerce was not only carried on by way 
of exchange, but likewise by means of real purchase 
and sale. 

" They had five kinds of real money, though it 
was not coined, which served them as a price to 
purchase whatever they wanted. The first was a 
certain species of cacoa, different from that which 
they used in their daily drink, which was in constant 
circulation through the hands of traders, as our mo- 
ney is among us. The second kind of money was 
certain small cloths of cotton. The third species 
of money was gold in dust, contained in goose-quills, 
which by being transparent, showed the precious 



ROADS AND BRIDGES. 93 

metal which filled them, and in proportion to their 
size were of greater or less value. The fourth, 
which most resembled coined money, was made of 
pieces of copper in the form of a T, and was em- 
ployed in purchases of little value. ^ The fifth con- 
sisted of thin pieces of tin." 

The bridges, causeways, and roads, were very 
good for their use, as they had no carriages. They 
had no inns, but uninhabited houses were erected in 
solitary places for the shelter of travellers ; and in 
populous places the inhabitants afforded accommo- 
dation gratuitously to the wayfaring man. 

" Their bridges were of a curious construction ; 
they were built either of stone or wood, but those 
of stone were extremely few in number. The 
most singular kind of bridge was that to which 
the Spaniards gave the name of Hamaca. This 
was a number of the ropes, or natural ligatures 
of a tree, more pliant than the willow, but thicker 
and stronger, called Bejucos, twisted and woven to- 
gether, the extremities of which were tied to the 
trees on each side of rivers, the tress or net formed 
by them remaining suspended in the air in the man- 
ner of a swing. There are some rivers with such 
bridges still. The Spaniards durst not pass them, 
but the Indians pass them with as much confidence 
and intrepidity as if they were crossing by a stone 
bridge, perfectly regardless of the unclulatory mo- 
tion of the hamaca, or the depth of the river." 

" Whatever was not transported by water was 
carried upon men's backs, and on that account there 
were numbers of men who carried burdens, called 
Tlamama or Tamemes. They were brought up from 
childhood to this business, which they continued all 
their lives. A regular- loud was about sixty pounds, 



94 MODE OF TRAVELLING. 

and the length of way they daily walked was fifteen 
miles ; but they made also journeys of two hundred 
and three hundred miles, travelling frequently over 
rocky and steep mountains. They were subjected 
to this intolerable fatigue from the want of beasts of 
burden ; and even at present, although those coun- 
tries abound in animals of this sort, the Mexicans 
are often seen making long journeys with bur- 
dens upon their backs. They carried cotton, maize, 
and other things, in 'petlacalli, which were bas- 
kets made of a particular kind of cane, and covered 
with leather. These were light, and defended their 
goods sufficiently from the rain or the sun. 

Their ingenuity in all mechanic operations was 
wonderful, when we consider the imperfection of 
their instruments, for they used neither iron, nor 
steel, nor any edge tools, except some made of flint 
stone. 



These are a few of the facts illustrative of the 
condition of the empire of Mexico, three centuries 
ago. They exhibit the state of a powerful monarch, 
and the resources of an industrious people ; but they 
also exhibit a horrible and inhuman religion — a re- 
ligion in which the doctrine of one God had no exist- 
ence ; in which the divine attribute of infinite mercy 
was unknown ; in which cruelty, and not kindness, 
was accounted acceptable service ; and in which 
sentiments of pity and respect for human nature, 
were excluded from divine worship, by the most 
cruel superstition and deplorable ignorance. 

What bad effect soever may have resulted from 
the Spanish conquest of Mexico, the introduction of 
Christianity in the Roman Catholic form, all over 
the Spanish dominions of America, is truly a vast 



CORTEZ'S ENTRY INTO MEXICO. 95 

improvement in the faith and morals of nations that 
poured out the blood of their fellow creatures like 
water, and commended themselves for the deed. 



CHAPTER VII. 

In order to make the sequel of this history intelli- 
gible, the narrative has been suspended, that the 
characters and manners of the Mexican people, and 
the condition of the empire might be described. The 
history will now be resumed. 

The eighth of November, 1519, was a day not 
less memorable to the Mexicans than to the Span- 
ish nation. On that day, Cortez and his army en- 
tered the capital of Montezuma. Montezuma being 
forced to admit his unwelcome guest, made a merit 
of necessity, and resolved to meet him like a great 
king. 

The munificent hospitality of Montezuma, and the 
premeditated treachery of Cortez, will appear in the 
following detail. " A little way before they reached 
the city, Cortez was informed that the king of Mexi- 
co was coming to meet him; and soon after he 
appeared, with a numerous and noble attendance. 
Three nobles preceded, each holding up in his 
hand a golden rod, as the insignia of majesty, by 
which the people were advertised of the presence 
of their sovereign. Montezuma came richly clad 
in a Utter covered with plates of gold, which four 
nobles bore on their shoulders, under the shade of a 
parasol of green feathers embroidered with fancy 
works of gold ; he wore hanging from his shoulders a 



96 RECEPTION OF CORTEZ 

mantle adorned with the richest jewels of gold and 
precious stones, on his head a thin crown of the same 
metal, and upon his feet shoes of gold, tied with 
strings of leather worked with gold and gems ; he 
was accompanied by two hundred lords, dressed in 
a style superior to the other nobles, but all bare- 
footed, two by two, keeping close on each side to the 
walls of the houses, to show the respect they bore 
to their sovereign. _ / : .• 

" As soon as the king and the Spanish general saw 
each other, both alighted, Cortez from his horse, and 
the king from his litter, who began to walk leaning on 
the arms of his brother and nephew. Cortez, after 
having made a profound bow to the king, approached 
him to put about his neck a small cord of gold, on 
which were strung glass beads which appeared like 
gems, and the kmg bowed his head to receive it. 
Cortez was also going to embrace him, but the two 
lords did not permit it. The general expressed in 
a short speech, as the circumstances required, his 
benevolence, his respect, and the pleasure he had in 
the knowledge of so great a monarch. Montezuma, 
answered him in few words, and having performed 
the usual ceremony, he in return for the present of the 
glass beads, gave him two necklaces of beautiful 
mother of pearl, from which hung some large cray-fish 
of gold, in imitation of nature : he charged the prince 
Cuitlahuatzin to conduct Cortez to his dwelling, 
and he himself retired with the king of Tezcuco. 

" The nobihty, as well as the populace, who, from 
the tops, doors, and windows of the houses, were 
observing all that passed, were equally surprised 
and astonished at the sight of so many extraordi- 
nary objects presented to their eyes. The Span- 
iards, full of wonder at seeing the grandeur of the 
city, the magnificence of the buildings, and the mul 



BY MONTEZUMA. 97 



titude of inhabitants. Thus they travelled on for 
near a mile and a half within the city, unto the palace 
destined for their reception. 

"Here Montezuma, who had gone before, waited 
for them. When Cortez arrived at the gate of that 
palace, Montezuma took him by the hand, led him 
into a large hall, made him sit down upon a foot-stool 
similar in form to those of the altars of the moderns, 
and covered with a fine tapestry of cotton, and close 
to a wall also covered with a tapestry embroidered 
with gold and gems ; and, taking leave of him, said 
to him, * You and your companions are now in your 
own house ; refresh and repose yourselves ; I will 
return shortly.' 

" The king went to his palace, and Cortez imme- 
diately ordered a volley of all the artillery to be fired, 
in order to awe and intimidate the Mexicans by the 
sound : in the meaa while, he went to see all the 
chambers of the palace where his people were to 
lodge. This edifice was so large, that both the 
Spaniards and their allies, who, together with their 
women and servants whom they brought with them, 
exceeded seven thousand in number, were accom- 
modated in it ; every where there was the greatest 
cleanliness and neatness ; almost all the chambers 
had beds of mats, of rushes, and palm, according to 
the custom, and other mats in a round form for pil- 
lows, with coverlets of fine cotton, and seats made 
of single pieces of wood ; some chambers had the 
floor covered with mats, and the walls also covered 
with tapestries of cotton of various colours. The 
walls were moderately thick, and at certain distances 
there were little towers ; the Spaniards therefore 
found every thing which they could wish for their 
security. The indefatigable and cautious general, 
immediately distributed his guards, placed a battery 
9 



98 MONTEZUMA VISITS CORTEZ. 

of his cannon facing the gate of the palace, and took 
as much care to fortify himself, as if he had expect- 
ed to be assaulted that night by his enemies. That 
day there was a magnificent entertainment prepared 
for Cortez and his officers, and served by the nobi- 
lity, and for the rest of the army were brought vari- 
ous and abundant provisions." 

After the Spanish general was refreshed, on the 
same day Montezuma paid him a visit, attended by 
his principal lords, and bringing magnificent presents 
of gold and silver, besides five thousand cotton gar- 
ments, the manufacture of the country. Montezuma 
apologized to Cortez, for the frequent messages he 
had sent to him, requesting him to desist from his 
projected visit to Mexico. It was the desire of his 
subjects, he said, that the strangers should not 
enter the capital : for himself, he was sincerely glad 
to receive him ; and then the ill-fated Montezuma 
concluded his speech thus : 

" I accept the embassy of your king who sends 
you ; I respect his friendship, and offer all my king- 
dom to his obedience ; since from the signs we have 
observed in the heavens, and what we have seen in 
you, the period seems to be arrived when the pre- 
dictions of our ancestors are to be fulfilled ; that is, 
that there were to come from the quarter of the east, 
certain men, different in habit and in customs from 
us, who were to become lords of all this country ; 
for we are not the original people of this land. It is 
not many years since our ancestors came hither from 
the regions of the north, and we have not ruled these 
people but as the viceroys of Quetzalcoatl,ourgood 
and lawful sovereign." 

The next day, Cortez, attended by his principal 
officers, returned the visit of Montezuma, and they 
were all graciously received. Cortez took this op- 



DESIGNS OF CORTEZ. 99 

portunity to discourse with the Mexican king, upon 
the excellence of the Christian religion. " He ex- 
plained to him the unity of God, the creation of 
the world, the severity of the judgments of God, the 
glory with which he rewards the just, and the eternal 
punishments to which he condemns the wicked. 
Then he spoke of the rites of Christianity ; and 
drew a comparison between it and the inhuman 
sacrifices of the Mexicans, declaiming warmly 
against the barbarous cruelty of sacrificing human 
victims, and feeding on their flesh." 

All this did not convince Montezuma ; he only 
gave Cortez liberty to make a place of worship for 
his army, and to erect in a public place a great cross,. 
as the symbol of his rehgion. 

After residing six days in his palace, and daily 
visiting the king, who always treated him with the 
same liberality and courtesy, Cortez began to feel 
extremely uneasy at his situation, and anxious to 
proceed to the conquest which ho had long medi- 
tated. He had been seven months in the country : 
it was time, according to his rapacious and cruel 
selfishness, that he had become its master. 

He deliberated upon a plan to accomplish his 
purpose ; it was to make a quarrel with Montezuma, 
and to take him prisoner, and having secured his 
person, to force his subjects to transfer their alle- 
giance to the king of Spain. In order to commence 
his operations to this effect, he went one day to court, 
attended, as usual, by his officers and Marina. The 
king received him with his wonted kindness, and 
presented to him one of the princesses his daughter, 
offering her to him as a wife. 

Cortez replied that he was already married, and 
that the Christian religion, and the custom of his 
country, forbade him to take more than one wife ; 



100 QUARRELS WITH MONTEZUMA. 

and he proceeded to say, that though he was grate- 
ful to the king for manifold favours, he felt himself 
injured in a transaction which he took the present 
occasion to lay before his majesty. It was this : his 
former subjects, the Totonacas, had acknowledged 
the king of Spain to be their lord and master ; and 
his vassal, the lord of Nauhtlan, had taken upon 
himself to demand tribute from the Totonacas, and 
moreover, when the Totonacas had sought redress 
from the governor of the Spanish garrison at Vera 
Cruz, Juan de Escalente, the lord of Nauhtlan defi- 
ed Escalente, and they came to an engagement, in 
which Escalente lost his life. Cortez continued, 
that he had learned that the lord of Nauhtlan w as 
instructed by Montezuma himself 

Montezuma falsely and foolishly replied to this, 
that the lord of Nauhtlan had acted without his 
orders, and that he should instantly be ordered- to 
appear at court, and be delivered up to Cortez, who 
might do with him as he would. Cortez affected 
not to be satisfied with this, and told the king if he 
would come and dwell in the royal palace, which he 
had appointed for his residence, it would prove that 
he was sincere, and would be doing an honour to his 
guest. 

When Montezuma understood what Cortez re- 
quired, he felt himself to be insulted, and knew that 
the Spanish general intended to make him prisoner. 
In his agitation he replied, " When was there ever 
an instance of a king tamely suffering himself to be 
led into prison? Although I was willing to de- 
base myself in so vile a manner, would not all my 
vassals immediately arm themselves to set me free ? 
I am not a man who can hide myself, or fly to the 
mountains. Without subjecting myself to such in- 



PUSILLANIMITY OF THE MEXICANS. 101 

famy, I am here now ready to satisfy your com 
plaints." 

Some farther parley between the king and the 
general ensued, but it was interrupted by an insulting 
threat from one of the officers, that he would either 
take the person or the life of Montezuma, without 
further delay. The king could not misunderstand 
the Spaniard's ferocious countenance, as he uttered 
these daring words, and he eagerly demanded of 
Marina, what that furious stranger said. 

" I, prince," (she answered with mildness and dis- 
cretion,) " as your subject, desire your happiness ; 
but as the confidant of those men, know their secrets, 
and am acquainted with theii* character. If you 
condescend to do what they require, you will be 
treated by them with all the honour which is due to 
your royal person ; but if you persist in your refusal, 
your life will be in danger." 

You will remember that the unhappy king, from 
the time that he heard of the arrival of the Spaniards, 
felt as Belshazzar must have felt when the prophet 
said to him, " Thy kingdom is divided and given to 
another :" as if the gods had decreed, and he must 
submit to see his glory depart from him. Not only 
Montezuma, but all his subjects, must have been 
pusillanimous to the last degree to have permitted 
the violence that was practised upon him. 

The words of Marina served to convince Monte- 
zuma that he could only preserve his life by yielding 
to Cortez, and after some short deliberation, he said 
to him, " I am willing to go with you, since the gods 
require it ;" and he immediately ordered his litter to 
be made ready to convey him to the Spanish quar- 
ters. In a short time he departed from his palace 
never more to return to it. 

In his passage to the place of custody, Monte- 
9* 



102 MONTEZUMA IN CUSTODY. 

zuma was attended by his retinue as usual, but the 
Spaniards kept close to him, watching Avith the ut- 
most vigilance under pretence of showing respect to 
him. The report of the king's imprisonment was 
soon spread throughout the city. Multitudes of 
the people were thrown into despair at the intelli- 
gence, and they resorted in crowds to the Spanish 
quarters that they might see him. Montezuma af- 
fected to comfort them, saying it was his own plea- 
sure to reside with his friends, and moreover he 
threatened with punishment any who should create 
the least disturbance. 

In his confinement Cortez allowed the king still 
to preserve the appearance of power. His servants 
attended him as formerly, and in the same state. He 
also heard petitions, and consulted with his ministers 
and councillors. He was permitted to go abroad 
and to hunt, but he was always forced to return to 
his Spanish prison. Cortez all this time treated him 
with seeming honour, never himself omitting, or 
allowing others to omit the least ceremony or com- 
pliment. One of Montezuma's daughters was mar- 
ried to Olid, a Spanish otficer, and she and one of 
her sisters were baptized and initiated in the Catholic 
religion, without any opposition from their father. 

As Montezuma had promised, Quah-po-po-ca, 
the lord of Nauhtlan, was summoned to the capital 
to defend himself. He came readily, and immedi- 
ately went to pay his respects to his captive master. 
Montezuma, as was expected, delivered him over to 
Cortez. As soon as the unfortunate man was asked 
how he had dared to demand tribute of the Toto- 
nacas, and, more especially, to resist the Spanish 
forces and to kill Escalente, he answered, Mon- 
tezuma had ordered that he should punish the rebel- 
lious Totonacas, and he felt it to be his duty to 



COURT-MARTIAL ON QUAH-PO-PO-CA. 103 

oppose, even to death, any people who should hinder 
him in fullilling that duty which his sovereign com- 
manded. 

To give some colour of justice to their proceed- 
ings, Cortez and his officers formed themselves into 
a court-martial, that is, into a court which tries 
oflences of officers, and all persons who have broken 
laws of war — laws observed among military persons. 
This court, it appears in truth, knew no law of jus- 
tice, humanity, or honour. If they had been gov- 
erned by these laws, which are before all other laws, 
they would not have accused this Mexican officer, 
who had only done his duty, nor would they have 
pronounced any punishment upon him, but rather 
have commended him. 

At this period, to do right made no part of the 
selfish and cruel policy of Cortez. He had come 
into the Mexican territory to enrich himself and his 
followers, and to add to the possessions of the king 
of Spain. How this was to be done, or who was to 
be made miserable, he did not care, so long as he 
accomplished his object. He knew he must make 
the Mexicans believe, that the Spaniards were gods 
rather than men, and were irresistible, that they 
might never dare to set themselves ngainst them. 

Quah-po-po-ca and his men had not only killed 
Escalente, but they had killed and wounded other 
Spaniards. Cortez chose to make the Mexicans 
think that to kill a Spaniard was the greatest of 
crimes, and deserved the most exemplary punish- 
ment. In order to show them this, Cortez imme- 
diately pronounced sentence of death upon Quah- 
po-po-ca. It was ordered that this victim of Spanish 
vengeance, and barbarous policy, should be burned 
to death ; and his funeral pile was composed of arms 
used in war. Cortez seized upon the public armory. 



104 MONTEZUMA PUT IN IRONS. 

and took thence a large quantity of bows, arrows, 
and shields, all of which were composed of com- 
bustible substances. In destroying these, he dimi- 
nished the means of defence possessed by the 
injured Mexicans, 

Before Quah^po-po-ca was led out to execution, 
Cortez, pretending to be much enraged at Monte- 
zuma, commanded one of his soldiers to take a pair 
of fetters, and to attend him. The man followed 
him to the king's apartment, and Cortez approach- 
ing him with a stern countenance, said, " Your offi- 
cer, Quah-po-po-ca, when he fell upon the Spaniards 
of Vera Cruz, only obeyed your orders ; you falsely 
denied to me having given such orders ; but I now 
know that you presumed to command an attack upon 
those invincible strangers. Know that the man who 
sheds their blood draws down upon himself the ven- 
geance of their God. He who dared to obey you 
shall be rewarded as he deserves ; and though in my 
clemency, I spare your life, you must suffer for your 
presumption and your deceit." 

Having spoken thus, he commanded the soldier 
to put the fetters upon Montezuma. This was the 
vilest indignity that could have been offered to him. 
His attendants had always been accustomed to re- 
gard their king's person as sacred ; they Avere used 
to spread mats upon his path wherever he went, and 
to express reverence and affection towards him upon 
every occasion. When they beheld, instead of 
golden anklets, rude iron rings clasp the limbs of 
their royal master, they were inconsolable. They 
fell upon the ground in their despair, bathed Monte- 
zuma's feet with tears, and some tenderly wound 
around his legs bandages of cotton, that he might 
not be hurt by the fetters. 

Unmoved at this sight, Cortez left the captive 



EMBARRASSMENT OF CORTEZ. 105 

king, and went to the execution. When that was 
over he deUvered Montezuma from the irons, and 
that weak man seemed only to be pleased with his 
release, without remembering his shame — neither 
he nor his people manifesting any becoming dis- 
pleasure at the insolence with which he had been 
treated. The Mexicans indeed were overawed at 
the terrible punishment inflicted upon Quah-po-po- 
ca, and for six months ensuing, Montezuma re- 
mained a prisoner, and Cortez and his troops 
continued to guard him. 

During all this time Montezuma gave orders to 
the people ; old customs and laws were still in force, 
and every thing relating to public affairs was tran- 
quil. The Mexicans did not attempt to deliver their 
master, nor did Cortez do any thing to extend his 
conquests. The Mexicans, however, lived in con- 
stant fear, not knowing what the Spaniards might 
do, and the Spaniards also lived in fear of them. 
Cortez at that time felt very anxious and doubtful 
GiPncerning the future. He knew not how to pro- 
ceed. He resolved not to abandon the conquest, 
neither did he feel himself able to accomplish it. 

Cortez had not a sufficient military force to carry 
on an extensive warfare, nor had he any commission 
from the king of Spain to do it. You must remem- 
ber the order of events in respect to the discovery of 
New Spain, and that it was effected under the pa- 
tronage of Velasquez, governor of Cuba. Several 
rich settlers of the island of Cuba had fitted out an 
expedition imder Cordova. He discovered Yucatan, 
and explored part of its coast, but he returned to 
Cuba only to relate his discovery and die. A second 
expedition was fitted out under Grijalva, who navi- 
gated the Gulf of Mexico more extensively, disco- 
vered the country which he called New Spain, and 



106 THE COUNTRY IS EXPLORED. 

previously to his own return to Cuba, despatched 
thither a messenger, to relate his success to Velas- 
quez. 

I have repeated these facts that the history may 
be present to your minds as a whole. Velasquez, 
you have not forgotten, to prosecute further disco- 
veries, did not wait for the return of Grijalva, but in 
ail haste fitted out under Cortez a new armament, 
to perfect what Grijalva had begun. The progress 
of Cortez has just been detailed. 

You must recollect that Cortez was neither a 
prince nor a rich man — he had commenced his un- 
dertaking under favour of Velasquez. The men, 
arms, ships, and money which he employed were 
not his own ; but he was so successful that he forgot 
the governor of Cuba, got himself appointed general 
by his followers, and sent off a ship to Spain with a 
petition to the king, that he might prosecute the con- 
quest of New Spain without any dependence upon 
his original patron. 

Nine months had elapsed since the bearei's of 
despatches had departed for Spain, and Cortez had 
received no intelligence of the pleasure of the king 
in relation to his enterprise. He thought it prudent 
not to attempt to overturn the Mexican government, 
nor was he provided with a sufficient force to do it ; 
but he felt much concern for his own safety, placed 
as he was in the midst of a numerous people, who, 
weak as they had shown themselves to be, might 
with little difficulty at any time rise upon their inva- 
ders and destroy them. 

But, though Cortez suffered much from the sus- 
pense in which he was, he was not therefore idle. 
He inquired of Montezuma the extent of his domi- 
nions, and with the consent of the king, despatched 
officers to explore the country, attended by natives 



HUMILIATION OF MONTEZUMA. 107 

as guides. These officers visited most of the pro- 
vinces, surveyed the districts which contained gold 
and silver, pitched upon proper places for the estab- 
lishment of colonies, and endeavoured to prepare 
the natives to admit the Spaniards as residents 
among them. 

To establish the authority of his king, even before 
his own should be acknowledged, Cortez urged 
Montezuma to declare himself a vassal, or depen- 
dent of the king of Spain, still wearing his crown, 
and caUing himself king of Mexico, but binding 
himself to pay tribute to the monarch of a distant 
country, whose very existence was only known to 
him by report 

Montezuma upon this, assembled his nobles and 
informed them of the proposal of Cortez. His man- 
ner of addressing them upon this humbling occasion, 
was solemn and affecting ; groans and tears inter- 
rupted his discourse. " I speak as the gods direct 
me," said he. " You know our diviners have told 
us, that as other nations possessed this land before 
our ancestors came hither, and as our fathers sup- 
planted their predecessors, so must a new race over- 
come and supplant ours. That hour is come ; the 
sceptre is passed from my hands ; the crown which 
my fathers wore, and which you placed upon my 
brow, must be laid at the feet of the stranger who 
has appeared among us, and who now requires me 
to surrender my power and your allegiance to the 
will and the service of the- king of the east." 

The assembly were struck dumb ; but indigna- 
tion as well as astonishment, appeared in their coun- 
tenances. At this moment, thought Cortez,' they 
will scorn my presumption ; they will feel that they 
are required to degrade themselves ; and they will 
also feel their own rights, and their own strength. 



108 CORTEZ ADDRESSES THE NOBLES. 

In a moment the whole population of this city might 
assemble, and their numbers might overcome this 
little band of mine. But neither danger nor fear 
ever dismayed this wonderful man ; he had a grand 
design to accomplish, and he suffered no obstacle 
to divert him from it. 

At this juncture, notwithstanding the agitation of 
his mind, Cortez addressed himself graciously to the 
assembled nobles. " My friends," said he to them, 
" you are disturbed, I see, at this proposal of the 
great Montezuma ; you fear that you are to be de- 
prived of his fatherly care, and that a strange and 
tyrannical master will be set over you : but you de- 
ceive yourselves. The king of Spain dwells beyond 
the great sea ; he is as good as he is glorious ; 
he only desires to send his subjects among you, that 
they may dwell peaceably with you. You have gold 
ancl silver, and abundance of the good things of the 
earth ; give him a portion of those things, and he 
will give you h portion in heaven, in another and a 
better world. He will give you a new and a pure 
religion, and he will leave you all that you value ; 
your families, your laws, and your king. Believe 
me, I would not hurt you. I came hither to declare 
my master's will ; submit yourselves to it, and you 
have nothing to dread from me or from him." 

This was the substance of the declaration of Cor- 
tez. The ill fated Mexicans had no wise and 
valiant leader to exhort them to crush this daring 
usurpation upon their national rights, and they con- 
sented that their king should acknowledge himself 
the vassal and tributary of the king of Spain. One 
of the first demands of Cortez was, as much gold 
and silver as could be found, and this, having re- 
served one fifth for the king of Spain, he divided 
between himself and his followers. The quantity 



EXPEDITION OF VELASQUEZ. 109 

of this gold and silver was inconsiderable, for the 
Mexicans did not understand the working of mines, 
or the refining of ores, and obtained their gold chiefly 
from the soil washed by rivers, and which exposed 
that precious metal upon its surface. 

When Cortez despatched his messengers to Spain, 
he commanded them not to touch at Cuba, but they 
disregarded his injunction, stopped on their way at 
the island, and informed Velasquez of the success 
of Cortez. Velasquez was highly provoked at the 
conduct of Cortez, and as soon as was practicable, 
fitted out a military force of eight hundred men, with 
orders to punish him, and take possession of the 
country in the name of Velasquez. Velasquez felt 
himself entiUed to do this, because, when Grijalva's 
discovery of New Spain was reported to the king, 
he appointed Velasquez governor of the country. 

The expedition fitted out by Velasquez, was en- 
trusted to an officer by the name of Pamphilo de 
Narvaez. His army landed safely in Mexico. 
When Cortez heard of the arrival of Narvaez, he 
thought it expedient to quit the city of Mexico, and 
encounter him at another place, to which Narvaez 
marched his troops. Before he proceeded to hos- 
tilities, Cortez endeavoured to reconcile Narvaez to 
his authority, but the latter would not submit to any 
accommodation. Cortez left the city and the cap- 
tive king, under the charge of Pedro de Alvarado, 
one of his officers, with one hundred and fifty Span- 
iards, and with about two hundred and fifty men 
marched to Chempoalla. 

At Chempoalla, Cortez met Narvaez and his 
army, but the excessive rain which was falling at 
the time, prevented Narvaez from attempting battle. 
Cortez and his hardy followers were not discour- 
aged by the elements. The Spanish conqueror, for 
10 



110 VICTORY OVER NARVAEZ. 

SO he may be called, in the middle of the night, 
under cover of darkness and in torrents of rain, 
attacked the encampment of Narvaez ; and the lat- 
ter, wholly unprepared, soon yielded to the well con- 
certed onset of his adversary. In this engagement, 
but nineteen were killed in all ; only two of the sol- 
diers of Cortez lost their lives. 

Cortez made a generous use of his victory. Of 
the gold acquired by the general and his soldiers in 
Mexico, a large portion had been converted into 
rings, chains, and other personal ornaments. These 
were freely given to the soldiers of Narvaez, now 
under the command of Cortez. Presents, which they 
considered of great value, together with the gracious 
manners of Cortez, reconciled these men to a new 
service, and they gladly marched under the orders 
of Cortez to the city of Mexico. The general, now 
a thousand strong, returned thither. 

The presence of Cortez was indeed required in 
Mexico. In his absence, Alvarado at the head of 
only one hundred and fifty men, had not the authority 
of the general ; and no sooner was the latter with- 
drawn, than the Mexicans and Spaniards com- 
menced mutual provocations, which ended in blood- 
shed. A few days after the discomfiture of Narvaez, 
Cortez received intelligence that Alvarado was 
driven into his quarters, and though he and his men 
defended themselves bravely, they stood in need of 
assistance. 

As soon as Cortez learned the dangerous situa- 
tion of the Spaniards, he hastened back to Mexico, 
which he was permitted to enter without opposition. 
Alvarado received Cortez with delight, and he in the 
pride of success, exulting in the victory he had just 
achieved, threatened the Mexicans iviih the ven- 
geance of the Spaniards^ for their presumption ap** 



THE MEXICANS ATTACK CORTEZ. Ill 

insolence, as he called their attempts at retaliation, 
for the injuries they had suffered. 

Cortez was not a man of words. All that he 
threatened to inflict upon the Mexicans, he com- 
menced to do. His outrages exasperated them 
highly, and in their rage they assaulted the Spanish 
quarters in greater numbers, and with more order 
and courage than they had ever displayed. All this 
was unavailing; the artillery of Cortez but too easily 
destroyed or dispersed these unfortunate people. 
Still, not in despair, they returned again and again, 
and as often were repulsed with loss. 

At this period the Mexicans, hitherto so tame and 
passive, appeared in a new character ; nor was it one 
to be despised. They collected in great numbers, 
and seemed not only to be animated with implaca- 
ble hatred to the Spaniards, but with an unconquer- 
able purpose to preserve what was dear to them, 
and to expel their lawless invaders. *' They were 
led," says Dr. Robertson, " by their nobles, in- 
flamed by the exhortations of their priests, and fought 
in defence of their temples and families, under the 
eye of their gods, and in presence of their wives and 
children." 

In this state of excitement, notwithstanding the 
superiority of the Spanish discipline and arms, Cor- 
tez had every thing to fear from the numbers and 
the spirit of the enemy. In his apprehension he 
thought of an expedient, which he conceived might 
mitigate the ferocity of the enraged Mexicans. It 
was the interposition of Montezuma, whom he per- 
suaded or compelled to address his subjects, and to 
counsel them to yield to the Spaniards. 

Montezuma, being entirely at the mercy of the 
Spanish general, did as he was desired ; and, in his 
royal robes and attended with unusual pomp, he 



112 DEATH OP MONTEZUMA. 

permitted himself to appear before his unhappy sub- 
jects, when in their hostile array they surrounded 
the place of his imprisonment. " At sight of their 
sovereign, whom they had long been accustomed to 
honour, and almost to revere as a god, the weapons 
dropped from their hands, every tongue was silent, 
all bowed their heads, and many prostrated them- 
selves on the ground." 

Montezuma said all that he could to dissuade 
them from persevering in the war so unhappily com- 
menced. " When he ended his discourse, a sullen 
murmur of disapprobation run through the ranks ; 
to this succeeded reproaches and threats, and the 
fury of the multitude rising above every restraint of 
decency or respect, flights of arrows and volleys of 
stones poured in so violently upon the ramparts, 
that before the Spanish soldiers appointed to cover 
Montezuma with their bucklers, had time to lift them 
in his defence, two arrows wounded the unhappy 
monarch, and the blow of a stone on his temple 
struck him to the ground." 

The veneration with which the Mexicans were 
accustomed to regard their king, inspired them with 
horror at their crime ; and when they saw him fall, 
they fled as if the vengeance of Heaven had driven 
them. Montezuma was immediately conveyed to 
a couch, and his wounds were dressed, but despair, 
from this moment of utter degradation, seized his 
soul. He tore the bandages from his wounds, re- 
fused all nourishment, and in a few days, exhausted 
with miseries and wrongs, ended his wretched life. 

After the death of Montezuma, Cortez finding it 
impossible to make any accommodation with the 
Mexicans, thought it best to retreat from the city, 
and accordingly made the attempt. But the Mexi- 
cans, still bent upon vengeance, resolved to cut off* 



DEFEAT OF THE SPANIARDS. 113 

the retreat. To effect this, " all Mexico was now 
in arms, and so eager were the people in the de- 
struction of their oppressors, that fresh warriors 
constantly poured into the ranks of those that fell. 
The Spaniards, weary with slaughter, began to give 
way. The confusion became universal ; horse and 
foot, officers and soldiers, friends and enemies, were 
mingled together, and while all fought and many fell, 
the hand which dealt the blow could hardly be dis- 
tinguished." 

From this memorable action, Cortez and about 
half of his men escaped, but many of the Spaniards 
were killed, and others fell alive into the hands of 
the Mexicans. These they carried off. in triumph, 
and sacrificed to their god of war. All the artillery 
and baggage were lost, the greater part of the 
horses, and about two thousand Tlascalans were 
killed, and only a small part of the treasure they had 
amassed was saved. Amidst so many disasters, 
Aguilar and Marina, who were so necessary to the 
Spaniards as interpreters, had the good fortune to 
escape. 

This memorable night is still distinguished by the 
name of JVoche Triste — the sorrowful night. When 
the morning, after this night of sorrow, dawned, 
Cortez found himself in the midst of his shattered 
battalions — their numbers deplorably diminished, 
and those who survived sadly dejected. He could 
not think of his friends slain, and his remaining fol- 
lowers so fearfully exposed, without anguish ; and 
though he showed so little mercy in his conduct 
towards the Mexicans, he seemed to regard his 
countrymen with sympathy and compassion, for 
upon this occasion he was observed to weep. 

JFIaving escaped from Mexico to Tacuba, a place 
in the vicinity, Cortez knew that he could not remain 
10* 



114 RETREAT FROM MEXICO. 

there, and that it would be impossible to retreat to 
any safe place except through the woods to Tlas- 
cala, as the Mexicans would undoubtedly pursue 
and waylay the Spaniards upon any ordinary track. 
They were on the west side of the lake. The place 
which Cortez desired to reach was the capital of 
their allies. This place was sixty-four miles east of 
Mexico, and thither a Tlascalan soldier undertook 
to guide the broken host through marshes and over 
mountains, and across a country little cultivated and 
thinly peopled. 

During this tedious march, no provisions could be 
found but berries and roots ; and famine wasted the 
strength of the fugitives, while their dangerous 
situation called for increased strength and activity. 
But the greatness of Cortez was never more mani- 
fested than during this trial. He was foremost in 
every danger, and endured every hardship with 
cheerfulness. So kindly did he encourage his de- 
jected companions, and so vigilantly did he provide 
for every danger and difficulty, that their confidence 
in him inspired in their minds hope for themselves. 

On the sixth day of their flight, the guide told 
them they were near Otumba, a place on the road 
between Mexico and Tlascala, and here they per- 
ceived small detachments of Mexicans pursuing 
them. Marina declared that the exclamations which 
these uttered, signified, " Go on, robbers ; go to the 
place where the vengeance of the gods awaits you— 
there you will meet the punishment due to your 
crimes." 

The meaning of this threat the Spaniards did not 
comprehend until they reached the summit of an 
eminence before them. There a spacious valley 
opened to the view, covered with a vast army, ex-^ 
tending as far as the eye could reach. While the 



BATTLE AT OTUMBA. 115 

Spaniards had retreated by a circuitous route, the 
Mexicans, aware of their design to reach Tlascala, 
took a direct road thither, and now stationed their 
army at Otumba, near which they knew the Span- 
iards must pass. 

The Spaniards, ah'eady disheartened, were thrown 
into despair at sight of the army before them. The 
unbroken spirit of Cortez, however, was equal to 
this exigency. He disposed his men in the best 
manner for battle, exhorted them to take courage, 
and with incredible skill and boldness, directed them 
how to act. The great standard of the empire was 
an object of reverence and trust to this superstitious 
people, and as the Trojans believed that their city 
could not be taken while the Palladium remained in 
it, so the Mexicans trusted that while they preserved 
this standard, their enemies could not prevail against 
them. Cortez had heard of this superstition, and 
he therefore conceived that he might wholly dis- 
concert and overcome the Mexican host by seizing 
this standard. 

Cortez resolved at any hazard to possess himself 
of this ensign, and with the aid of his principal offi- 
cers, to whom he confided his purpose, made the 
desperate attempt. The manner in which he achiev- 
ed this enterprise and its consequences, shall be 
related in the words of Dr. Robertson. Cortez and 
his aids made directly towards the standard, and the 
Mexicans perceiving their design, used their utmost 
efforts to baffle them. 

" A chosen body of nobles, who guarded the 
standard made some resistance, but were soon 
broken. Cortez, with a stroke of his lance, wound- 
ed the Mexican general and threw him to the 
ground. One of the Spanish officers alighting, put 
an end to his life, and laid hold of the imperial 



116 CORTEZ REINFORCED, 

standard. The moment that their leader fell, and 
the standard, towards which all directed their eyes, 
disappeared, a universal panic struck the Mexicans, 
and, as if the bond which held them together had 
been dissolved, every ensign was lowered, each 
soldier threw away his weapons, and all fled with 
precipitation to the mountains. The Spaniards, 
unable to pursue them far, returned to collect the 
spoils of the field, which were so valuable as to be 
some compensation for the wealth which they had 
lost in Mexico ; for in the enemy's army were most 
of their principal warriors, dressed out in their 
richest ornaments, as if they had been marching to 
assured victory." Next day, to their great joy, the 
Spaniards entered the Tlascalan territories. 

The Tlascalans received the Spaniards with their 
wonted friendhness. The followers of Cortez, not- 
withstanding their late success, had now become 
weary of war, and of New Spain, and they earnestly 
entreated their commander, that they might with- 
draw from the country ; but he did not fall in with 
their proposal. Cortez had still a greater force than 
that with which he first entered Mexico, and he 
unexpectedly increased it. Yelasquez not knowing 
that he had submitted to Cortez, had sent out rein- 
forcements to Narvaez, and these troops joined 
Cortez. Francisco de Garay, governor of Jamaica, 
also fitted out an armament on his own account, to 
take a share in the spoils of New Spain, and this 
venturing to Vera Cruz, attached itself likewise to 
the fortunes of the Spanish general. 

Thus " an avowed enemy who aimed at his de- 
struction, and an envious rival who wished to sup- 
plant him," became the allies and the instruments of 
this most remarkable man, whose success was as 
conspicuous and extraordinary as his abilities. With 



THE MEXICANS SUBJUGATED. 117 

these adjuncts, Cortez projected the recovery of 
Mexico. He communicated his plan to his soldiers, 
and permitted those who were disinclined to the 
service, to quit it. After these had departed, with 
five hundred and fifty infantry, forty horsemen, and 
ten thousand Tlascalans and other friendly Indians, 
Cortez began his march towards Mexico, on the 
28th of December, six months after his disastrous 
retreat from that city. 






CHAPTER VIII. 

The fatal siege and final conquest of Mexico, is 
all that remains to be related to conclude the his- 
tory of a people, who, from that event, ceased to be 
an independent nation ; and who now only form an 
inferior class, where they once lived in honour and 
power ; it may be said, in a world of their own, 
where the tyranny of Europeans was not felt nor 
feared, nor even the name of Europe known. 

To make this history intelligible, this small map 
is inserted here. 



Mexico. 

'q Chalco. 

The young reader should first examine a large 
map. He will see the city of Mexico in the interior 
of the country ; he will observe that it lies north 




118 LAKE OF TEZCUCO. 



west from Vera Cruz, about two hundred miles ; he 
must remember that the Tlascalans and other In- 
dians friendly to the Spaniards, dwelt between Vera 
Cruz and Mexico ; and then looking at this little 
map, he will the better understand the position of 
Mexico, and the nature of the siege. The salt and 
large lake, Tezcuco, was divided from lake Chalco 
by a peninsula. At the extremity of this peninsula 
was Ix-ta-pal-a-pa, a city in alliance with Mexico, 
and connected with it by a causeway or road, con- 
structed over water. Mexico was raised upon an 
artificial soil in the lake, and the lines on the map 
which look like the radii of a wheel, represent 
causeways which connected the city with other 
towns on the shores of the lake. Tezcuco lay op- 
posite to Mexico, and Chalco was a town south of 
Tezcuco. Besides these the lake was surrounded 
with other populous towns. 

Cortez on entering upon this important enterprise, 
met with some opposition among his followers, but 
with his usual address, he reconciled all the dis- 
affected, and marched his army to the town of Tez- 
cuco, of which he took possession. For some rea- 
son, the Tezcucans did not approve of the chief that 
governed them, and Cortez deposed him and set 
another in his place. Nor did he fail, by conferring 
many seeming benefits upon this people, to gain 
their entire confidence and affection. 

Cortez knew it was necessary that he should have 
entire command of the lake, so that no provisions or 
succors from the neighbouring country, should pass 
to the city of Mexico, and that the Mexicans them- 
selves should have no command of it. In order to 
take the command of the lake, he caused twelve 
small vessels to be contrived at Tlascala, and all the 
different parts of them to be exactly fitted at that 



FLEET ON THE LAKE. 119 



place. This being done, the whole was conveyed 
to Tezcuco. The beams, the planks, the masts, 
the cordage, the sails, the iron work, and all the in- 
finite variety of articles requisite for the construction 
of thirteen small brigantines, as these vessels were 
called, were carried over land to the borders of the 
lake, - 

This laborious service was performed, not by 
beasts of burden, but by eight thousand Tamenes or 
carriers, and these were guarded by fifteen thousand 
warriors, who accompanied them, that they might 
not be intercepted on the way. The whole marched 
imder the conduct of Sandoval, one of Cortez's 
principal officers. In three months, by means of 
some unskilful carpenters, assisted by the Indians, 
the brigantines were ready to be launched, and these 
three months, Cortez employed in gaining over the 
neighbouring country. 

Most of the cities in the vicinity had been inde- 
pendent, and had gradually fallen under the power 
of Mexico. They still remembered their ancient 
liberty, and in their hearts revolted from their pre- 
sent subjection. Cortez easily persuaded these 
disaffected people, that the king of Castile was a 
generous master, and without reluctance, most of 
them went over to his interest. They readily entered 
into the military service of Cortez, nor did they refuse 
to supply the Spanish camp liberally with provisions, 
and whatever was demanded of them. 



Upon the death of Montezuma, the Mexican chiefs 
placed his brother Quetlavaca on the throne. Quet- 
iavaca was a man of more energy and resource than 
Montezuma, and he took every means in his power 
to defend the city of Mexico ; to prevent the revolt 
of the dependent provinces, and to punish those who 



120 QUETLAVACA SUCCEEDS MONTEZUMA. 

inclined to favour the enemy. He summoned the 
people in every province of the empire, to take up 
arms against the invaders, and as an encourage- 
ment to them, he ordered the taxes which former 
kings had imposed, to be remitted. 

Quetlavaca also sent ambassadors to the Tlasca- 
lans, conjuring that people to deny their aid to the 
Spaniards. " Dare you," said an ambassador of 
Quetlavaca to the Tlascalans, " assist in their cruel 
and rapacious warfare, an impious people who 
defy the gods of your fathers ? If you would not 
bring down upon yourselves the anger of those 
oiTended gods, offer not your friendship to men who 
throw down their altars, and insult their worshippers. 
Would you help them to bend our necks to servi- 
tude '? When you have done that, they will make 
you the bearers of their burdens, and trample you 
beneath their feet." The Tlascalans " heard, but 
heeded not." 

Quetlavaca did not live to witness the fearful 
catastrophe which he endeavoured to prevent. His 
days were cut short by small pox, a disease brought 
to America by the Spaniards. After the death of 
Quetlavaca, he was succeeded by his nephew Guat- 
arnozin, a man who was respected for his abilities 
and courage. But how deserving soever he was, 
he was destined to an unhappy end, for the re- 
sources of Cortez were infinitely more effective in 
destruction, than all the means of defence possessed 
by the unfortunate Guatamozin. 

Just as the brigantines were ready to be launch- 
ed, a supply of men, arms, and horses, arrived from 
Hispaniola at Vera Cruz ; and with this augmented 
force, Cortez was better provided than ever, to com- 
mence his meditated attack upon Mexico. On the 



LAUNCH OF THE VESSELS. 121 

28th of April, 1521, the brigantines were launched 
amidst multitudes of admiring spectators. 

The Indians had never seen any other vessel than 
the small canoes with which they navigated the 
lakes, and nothing could appear to them more won- 
derful than these Spanish vessels. As the brigan- 
tines, one after another, glided into the water, Father 
Olmedo, the chaplain of Cortez, pronounced a 
blessing upon them, and gave each a name ; and 
when they hoisted their sails, and bore away before 
the wind over the glittering waters of the lake, a 
general shout of joy was raised. 

The vessels were each armed with a small can- 
non, and manned by twenty-five Spaniards. This 
little navy was commanded by Cortez himself. The 
army destined to the destruction of Mexico was 
divided into three portions, under three officers, and 
appointed each to a different station on the cause- 
ways leading to Mexico. Sandoval, Olid, and 
Alvarado, were the commanders of these different 
positions. 



The history of the siege of Mexico, is very exactly 
described by some who were present, but it would 
not enlighten any young persons to read these cruel 
details. It is sufficient that they know the result. 
I shall endeavour to make the painful narrative as 
brief as possible. 

As the Spanish commanders of the several detach- 
ments advanced to their stations, they broke down 
the aqueducts which conveyed water to the city, thus 
at once reducing the inhabitants to the greatest dis- 
tress. These preparations were in sight of the 
people, and Guatamozin, in order to check such 
enormous aggressions, thought it expedient first to 
attempt the destruction of the brigantines. In order 
11 



122 SIEGE OF MEXICO. 

to do this, he assembled such a multitude of Indians, 
and such a number of canoes, as almost covered 
the face of the lake. These, confiding in the ability 
of many opposed to few, boldly attacked the Span- 
ish vessels, but in a moment European art and 
knowledge overwhelmed their presumption. The 
brigantines broke through their feeble opponents, 
overset the canoes, and dissipated the whole arma-^ 
ment withr imense slaughter. 

Totally overcome upon the water, the subjects of 
Guatamozin, incited by their valiant monarch, still 
resolved to defend themselves upon land, and for a 
whole month, the Spaniards were unable to get a 
footing in the city. The toils and dangers of both 
parties were continually renewed, the Mexicans re- 
pairing in the day what the Spaniards had destroyed in 
the night, and recovering from time to time, posts 
which the Spaniards had taken. Still the latter 
gained ground, and famine and despair wearied and 
broke down the Mexicans. 

At the end of a month, Cortez became tired of the 
slowness of the siege, and determined to hazard a 
less cautious procedure. He ordered Sandoval and 
Alvarado to join their divisions, and at their head, 
he resolved to force his way into the city. Anima- 
ted by the presence of their leader, the Spaniards 
pushed forwards with furious courage. " They broke 
through one barricade after another, forced their 
way over ditches and canals, and having entered the 
city, gained ground incessantly, in spite of the mut* 
titude and ferocity of their opponents." 

Guatamozin conceived, if his people should per- 
mit the Spaniards in their eagerness to penetrate 
into the heart of their city, they might, before they 
were aware, be surrounded and cut off, without 
chance of escape. At the command of their king. 



BIKGK OF MEXICO. 123 

the Indians slackened their efforts, and the Spaniards 
rushed forward with redoubled impetuosity. On a 
signal, commanded by Guatamozin, the priest in the 
principal temple, struck the great drum consecrated 
to the god of war. No sooner did the Mexicans 
hear its solemn sound, than rage and contempt of 
death inspired them, and they rushed upon the Span- 
iards with a frantic and invincible ardour, for which 
the latter were wholly unprepared, and which even 
rendered them regardless of the entreaties and com- 
mands of their leader. 

In this fearful encounter six Mexican chiefs at 
once seized the intrepid Cortez, and were hurrying 
him off, when two of his officers, at the expense of 
their own lives, delivered him. Cortez received 
several dangerous wounds, but he escaped with life. 
Sixty Spaniards perished in their flight before the 
foe. Forty of these fell alive into the hands of the 
Mexicans, and were barbarously sacrificed to their 
gods. 

Having withdrawn his forces, as many as sur- 
vived, Cortez collected his spirits, and meditated 
upon a mode of proceeding which should be less dan- 
gerous, and more effectual. He again renewed the 
siege, but with every possible precaution, and Guat- 
amozin defended his capital with the utmost vigi- 
lance and skill — but in vain. Incredible numbers 
of the Mexicans fell daily ; war wasted them with- 
out, and famine consumed them within their city. 
The brigantines cut off all supplies of food on the 
one hand, and the allies being stationed on the land 
west of the city, prevented all approach to it on the 
other. 

Cortez, aware of the condition to which the people 
were reduced, proposed to Guatamozin to surrender, 
but he disdained submission to his oppressors, and 



124 BRAVERY OF SPANISH WOMEN. 

chose rather to sacrifice himself and his subjects, 
than to acknowledge that they were conquered. The 
Spaniards now continued their progress in the work 
of destruction. All three of the divisions of the 
army penetrated to the centre of the city, and made 
a secure lodgment there, and three-fourths of the 
Mexican capital were laid in ruins. The remaining 
quarter was so closely pressed, that it could not be 
expected long to sustain itself against the assailants. 

" Cortez now seeing the resolution of the Mexi- 
cans, after forty-five days of siege, and that the more 
he made overtures of peace the more obstinately 
they rejected them, determined not to take another 
step into the city, without destroying every building 
on either side of the road, not only to prevent the 
mischief which the troops suflfered from the terraces, 
but likewise to force the besieged, by constant hos- 
tilities, to accept of his propositions. 

" In his entries into the city, several Spanish 
women made themselves famous by their bravery : 
they voluntarily accompanied their husbands to war, 
and, from the continual hardships they underwent, and 
the examples of valour which they had always before 
their eyes, were in a manner become soldiers : they 
kept guard, marched along with their husbands, 
armed with breast-plates of cotton, shields, and 
swords, and threw themselves intrepidly into the 
midst of the enemy, adding, in spite of their sex, to 
the number of the besiegers. 

" From a Mexican woman of rank, taken in the 
last assault, the Spanish general learned the mise- 
rable state of the city, through the scarcity of provi- 
sions and the discord prevailing among the besieged : 
for the king, and his relations, and many of the no- 
bles, were determined to die rather than surrender ; 
while the people were discouraged and weary of th© 



BURNING OF THE TEMPLE. 125 

siege. Her account was confirmed by two deserters 
of inferior rank, who were impelled by hunger to 
come to the camp of Cortez. 

" Upon gaining this intelligence, Cortez resolved 
not to let a day pass without entering the city, until 
he should take or ruin it. He therefore returned 
with his army on the 25th, and got possession of 
a deep road, in which there was so wide a ditch 
that the whole day was not time sufficient to fill it 
up. They demolished or burned all the houses of 
that quarter, in spite of the resistance of the enemy. 
The Mexicans, on beholding the allies busied in 
razing the houses, cried out to them, ' Demolish, ye 
traitors ! lay those houses in ruin, for afterwards you 
will have the labour of repairing them.* * We,' 
answered the allies, * will unquestionably rebuild 
them, if you should be conquerors ; but if you should 
ibe conquered, yourselves must rebuild them, and 
your enemies inhabit them.' " 

Persevering as Cortez was in this terrible siege, 
lie more than once suspended hostilities, and vainly 
untreated the Mexicans to yield. One day he entered 
with some cavalry, into a square of the city, and 
** found innumerable people there, lodged in the 
jjorticos, the houses of that district not being suffi- 
cient to contain them. He mounted the temple, 
from which he observed the city, and perceived, that 
of the eight parts of which it consisted, only one re- 
mained to be taken. He ordered his people to set 
fire to the lofty and beautiful towers of that temple, 
where, as in the greater temple of Tenochtitlan, the 
image of the god of war was adored. 

" The Mexican populace, on seeing the great 

flame which arose and seemed to reach the clouds, 

uttered deep lamentations. Cortez, moved with 

pity at seeing so great a body of people reduced to 

11* 



126 DESPAIR OF THE MEXICANS, 

the utmost distress, commanded all hostilities to 
cease for that day, and new proposals to be made 
to the besieged, if they would surrender ; but they 
answered that they never would, and that while 
but one Mexican remained alive, he would continue 
the defence till death." 

Though the greater part of the Mexicans remain- 
ed firm, the spirits of some of them sunk under their 
calamity, " seeing such a host of enemies come 
against them, and among them their own subjects, 
who had formerly served them, and now threatened 
them with ruin ; these finding themselves reduced 
to the most distressing situation, and viewing be- 
fore their eyes so many objects of affliction, having 
hardly a place to set a foot upon except the dead 
bodies of their citizens, vented their anguish in hor- 
rid cries, and demanded death as the only cure for 
their misery. 

" Some of the common people requested Cortez 
to treat with the nobles about an accommodation : 
Cortez went to them, but with little hopes of success 
to his propositions : they happened to be some of 
those persons who could no longer endure the seve- 
rity of the siege. When they saw Cortez advan- 
ing towards them, they called out with the accents 
of desperation, 'If you are the child of the sun, as 
some do imagine, when your father is so swift, that 
in the short space of a day he finishes his airy course, 
why are you so tedious in delivering us from all our 
calamities by death ? We would die, that we may 
pass to heaven, where our god Huit-zil-o-pot-li waits 
to give us the repose and reward our fatigues and 
services and sacrifices to him have earned.' " 

In their forlorn state, whatever might be their 
own fate, the Mexicans earnestly desired to pre- 
serve the life of Guatamozin, and they conspired to 



CAPTURE OF GUATAMOZIN. 127 

convey him across the lake to a place of security. 
Cortez had anticipated that measure, and ordered 
Sandoval to keep a strict watch upon all the move- 
ments of the Indians. Guatamozin having defended 
his people as long as his presence and counsels 
could benefit them, at their entreaty, consented to 
save his life by flight. 

The plan for the king's preservation failed of 
success. Sandoval perceived the canoe in which 
he was placed in the hope of escaping unobserved, 
and ordered Garcia Holguin, an experienced cap- 
tain of one of the brigantines, to pursue and bring 
the king to land, if he should be found in the little 
vessel. 

Garcia Holguin made such speed, that in a short 
time he came up with it, and the Spaniards were pre- 
paring to fire into it, when the Indians ceased their 
oars and threw down their arms in token of surren- 
der. In that large vessel, or piragua, were the king of 
Mexico, the queen, and several chiefs and nobles. 

" Holguin eagerly seized his prize, and the 
king of Mexico advancing towards the Spaniards, 
said to the captain, ' I am your prisoner : I have 
no favor to ask, but that you will show the queen, 
my wife and her attendants, the respect due 
to their sex and rank.' And taking hold of the 
queen by the hand, he passed with her into the 
brigantine. Observing afterwards, that the Spanish 
captain looked anxiously after the other vessels, he 
told him that he needed not doubt, as soon as they 
ail knew that their sovereign was prisoner, they 
would come to die with him. 

" Holguin conducted the prisoners to Cortez. He 
received them with every mark of respect and hu- 
manity, and made them sit down. Guatamozin 
with much greatness of mind, told him, ' I have done. 



128 GUATAMOZIN TAKEN CAPTIVE. 

brave general ! in defence of myself and my subjects, 
every thing which the honour of my crown and re- 
gard for my people demanded ; but as the gods have 
been against me, I see myself now deprived of my 
crown and my liberty : I am your prisoner ; at 
your pleasure dispose of my person :" and putting 
his hand upon a dagger which Cortez wore at his 
girdle, he added, 'with this dagger take that life 
from me, which I have not lost in the defence of my 
kingdom.' 

" Cortez strove to console him, declaring that he 
did not consider him as his prisoner, but the prisoner 
of the greatest monarch of Europe, from whose 
clemency he ought to trust, that not only the liberty 
which he had lost, but also the throne of his ances- 
tors, which he had so worthily occupied and defend-^ 
ed, would be restored to him. But what solace 
could he have from such declarations, or what con- 
fidence could he put in the words of Cortez, who 
had always been his enemy, and after having seen 
that though he affected to be the friend and protector 
of Montezuma, both were not sufficient to save to 
that monarch his crown, his liberty, or his life. 

" He desired of Cortez, that he would do no hurt 
to his subjects ; and Cortez in retmn desired of him, 
that he would command them all to surrender. Both 
gave their orders, and both were instantly obeyed. 
It was ordered also, that all the Mexicans should 
leave the city without arms or baggage; and accord- 
ing to the affirmation of an eye-witness of the 
utmost veracity, for three days and three nights all 
the three roads leading from the city were seen full 
of men, women, and children ; feeble, emaciated, 
and dirty, who went to recover in other places of the 
empire. 

*' The news of the taking of the capital spread 



PLUNDER OF MEXICO. 129 

quickly through all the land ; most of the provinces 
of the empire acknowledged obedience to Cortez, 
though some few for two years after continued to 
war upon the Spaniards. The allies returned to 
their native districts, joyful beyond measure with 
their prey, and gratified in extreme to have shaken 
and convulsed that court whose dominion they never 
could endure, and whose arms kept them in perpe- 
tual uneasiness ; never perceiving, that with their 
own hands they had been forming the chains which 
were to fetter their liberty, and when that empire was 
fallen, all the other nations of the region must be 
degraded and enslaved." 

The plunder was greatly inferior to the hopes 
and expectations of the conquerors. The garments 
and apparel which they found in the capital were 
divided among the allies : those works of gold, sil- 
ver, and feathers, which, on account of the singu- 
larity of their workmanship were preserved entire, 
were sent as presents to the emperor Charles V. 
all the rest of the gold, which was melted, hardly 
amounted to nineteen thousand two hundred ounces ; 
not only because the Mexicans threw the greater 
part into the lake, but also because individuals, both 
Spaniards and allies, endeavoured, in plundering, to 
recompense themselves secretly for their hardships 
and toils. 

The taking of that capital, happened on the 
thirteenth of August, 1521, one hundred and ninety- 
six years after the foundation of it by the Aztecas, 
one hundred and sixty-nine years after it was erect- 
ed into a monarchy, which was governed by eleven 
kings. The siege of Mexico, something resembling 
in the disasters and slaughters with which it was 
attended that of Jerusalem, lasted seventy-five days ; 
during which time, of two hundred thousand and 



130 DEATH OP GUATAMOZIN. 

more allies, some thousands perished ; and of nine 
hundred Spaniards, more than one hundred were 
killed and sacrificed. The number of the Mexicans 
killed is not known. 

The city appeared one complete ruin. The 
king of Mexico, in spite of the magnificent promises 
of the Spanish general, was in a few days put igno- 
miniously to the torture, which he bore with unshaken 
firmness, that he might declare where the immense 
riches of the court and temples were deposited ; and 
in three years after, was hanged, together with the 
kings of Tezcuco and Tlacopan, on account of some 
suspicious circumstances in their conduct. 

It has been remarked that one happy change in 
the condition of the Mexicans was produced by the 
Spanish conquest — the introduction of Christianity 
among them, and the suppression of human sacri- 
fices. In respect to the numbers sacrificed in the 
Mexican empire annually, historians disagree. Some 
reckoning them to be twenty thousand, and others 
presume that the victims were not more than one 
hundred and fifty prisoners of war. •• Dr. Robertson, 
a learned and judicious historian, inclines to the 
latter opinion. Be that as it may, " the conquerors 
of Mexico," it has been said, " in one year of merci- 
less massacre, sacrificed more human victims to 
avarice and ambition, than the Indians during the 
existence of their empire had devoted in worship to 
their native gods. There the legislative art of Europe 
corrected the bloody policy of American tribes, and 
introduced the ministry of justice, by despoiling In- 
dian caziques of their territories and tributes, tor- 
turing them for gold, and enslaving their posterity : 
and there the mild parental voice of the Christian 
rehgion, was suborned to terrify ignorant savages ; 
and her gentle arm lifted up in violence, to raze 



CONQUEST OF MEXICO. 131 

their temples and habitations, to ruin every fond relic 
and revered monument of their ancestry and ori- 
gin, and drive them in anguish from their lands and 
their dwellings !" 

The sad story of the conquest of Mexico is now 
brought to a close. It remains to relate what use 
the Spaniards made of their victory, and to show 
what is the present state of a country which three 
centuries ago was deluged in blood to gratify a king 
greedy of gold and of power, and to enrich lawless 
men, his subjects, at the expense of justice and hu- 
manity. One of the ancients wept, because there 
were no more worlds to conquer. Modern navi- 
gators have traversed almost the whole surface of 
the globe, and have shown that there is no con- 
tinent now unexplored, and yet no monarch weeps 
because he cannot extend his dominions. 

Now princes and governments are wiser and 
better than they were three thousand, or three hun- 
dred years ago ; they have discovered that violence, 
bloodshed, treachery, and robbery are crimes, and 
that commerce, and knowledge and industry must 
exchange the productions of different countries, and 
equity, and honour, and mutual respect, divide the 
inheritance of the earth. 



CHAPTER IX. 

CoRTEZ did not rest satisfied with the subjugation 
of a single monarch. As Guatamozin had declared 
to the Tlascalans, nothing less than the conquest of 



132 COUNCIL OF THE INDIES. 

the whole country could content him, and in no long 
time the provinces submitted, one after another. 
Small detachments marched from district to district 
without any effectual opposition, till the whole terri- 
tory, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, fell 
under the power of the king of Castile. 

Cortez, however, during all this time, did not pur- 
sue his conquest under a commission from the king. 
A body of men in Spain, with Fonseca, Bishop of 
Burgos, at their head, who must be remembered as 
the enemy of Columbus, had been appointed by the 
king to manage affairs in the new world. Those to 
whom this trust was committed, formed what is 
called the Council of the Indies, and this council 
long subsisted as the directors of the government 
of New Spain. When the petition of Cortez to the 
emperor reached Spain, with intelligence of his con- 
quests, and the mines of wealth which his sword was 
opening to satiate the avarice of his king and his 
countrymen, the appointment of a commander in 
chief in the new dominion was left to the Council of 
the Indies. Velasquez did not fail to remind Fon- 
seca that the appointment had actually been given 
to him, but the Bishop of Burgos had a favourite of 
his own, one Christoval de Tapia, to whom he gave 
the commission, without regard to the claims of 
either Velasquez or Cortez. 

Besides bestowing the honours due to Cortez 
upon this interloper, Fonseca declared the proceed- 
ings of the former to be an usurpation, as he acted 
without authority from the king, and commanded, 
when Tapia should enter upon the station, that the 
person of Cortez should be seized, his property con- 
fiscated, and the whole of his conduct submitted to 
the judgment of the Council of the Indies, who it 
was most likely would bring him to punishment. 



FAME OF CORTEZ. 133 

But Cortez, though he showed respect for au- 
thority, acted for himself. Tapia, a few weeks after 
the reduction of Mexico, landed at Vera Cruz with 
his commission, and Cortez commanded that he 
should be honourably received ; nevertheless, after 
a short experiment, Tapia found himself incapable 
of taking the command, and relinquished to Cortez 
all authority. 

Cortez choosing to act legally, a second time 
despatched deputies to Spain, and these set forth 
pompously the eminent services of the conqueror. 
Multitudes of people, when they heard of the great 
and rich country which he had subdued, hoped to 
partake of its gold and silver, and Spain rang with 
the praises of the great Cortez. The emperor 
Charles arrived in Spain just at this time, and he 
warmly entered into the public sentiment in relation 
to Cortez. Charles in this matter showed no re- 
gard to Fonseca, but appointed Cortez captain- 
general and governor in chief of New Spain, judging 
that no person was so capable of maintaining order, 
both among his Spanish and Indian subjects, as the 
victorious leader whom the former had been taught 
to obey, and the latter to fear. 

Cortez did not wait for his commission to arrive 
before he commenced operations for the establish- 
ment of the Spaniards in Mexico. The ancient 
city of Mexico was laid in ruins by the terrible war- 
fare which has been described, and Cortez pro- 
jected another city on the site of the former capital ; 
and in 1525, the new city had in it spacious streets, 
rich churches, and many commodious houses, built 
in the Spanish fashion. Skilful persons were em- 
ployed in different parts of the country to search for 
mines, and at the same time " he detached his prin- 
cipal officers into the remote provinces, and en- 
12 



134 OPPRESSION OF THE INDIANS. 

couraged them to settle there by bestowing upon 
them large tracts of land, and by granting them the 
same dominion over the Indians, and the same 
right to their service, which the Spaniards exercised 
in the islands. 

A perfect change in the whole face of a country, 
among a numerous native population, could not be 
effected peaceably. Terrified as the Indians were 
at the power of the Spaniards wherever they appear- 
ed, they would sometimes struggle against it, and 
they always suffered in consequence. The Span- 
iards, after the surrender of Guatamozin, pretended 
that the king of Castile was the sole master of the 
late king's dominions, and that ail his subjects were 
at the disposal of the officers of Spain. 

In this presumption they declared that the per- 
sons and property of the Indians belonged to those 
to whom the king's representative should give them, 
and that the Indians ought to perform all labour re- 
quired of them, without resistance or murmuring. 
The poor Indians could not submit to these false 
reasonings and this tyrannical conduct of their op- 
pressors, without aversion to them, and some at- 
tempts to escape from their impositions. But 
cruelly were they punished whenever they asserted 
their liberty. Nothing can be more disgraceful to 
humanity than the manner in which they were now 
treated. 



I will not be exact in the relation of these enor- 
mities. I desire principally to direct the attention 
of young persons to good examples in the history of 
mankind. But we cannot honour the deliverers and 
benefactors of society as they deserve, unless we 
can oppose to them the crimes of the abusers of 
power — we cannot see how God brings good out ^ 



CRUELTY OP THE SPANIARDS. 135 

evil, unless we know what the evil is — we cannot 
understand the plan of Providence, unless we know 
what misery grows out of all guilt, and what happi- 
ness arises from peace on earth, and generosity and 
good will to men. Those who have read the history 
of William Penn and his colony, and who read that 
of Cortez, and of all that followed the conquest, will 
know what I mean. 

Among the cruelties practised upon the Indians, 
it is related that sixty caciques, and four hundred 
nobles, were burnt by the orders of Sandoval at one 
time ; and the example of Cortez and his principal 
officers in the infliction of all injustice upon this 
wretched people, encouraged Spaniards of the low- 
est rank to a conduct as severe and merciless. 
After a time, this atrocious treatment was altered. 
Catholic priests interfered in behalf of the Indians ; 
they submitted to every thing, and a milder gene- 
ration of Spaniards have brought the descendants of 
the primitive race to a condition which is tolerable 
in comparison with that into which they were thrown 
immediately after the conquest. 

The whole of the natives of New Spain have 
never been subject to the Spaniards. Independent 
Indians still occupy the interior and the northern 
parts of the country. In a subsequent part of this 
book, a short account of the present character and 
condition of these Indians will be found. The man- 
ner in which some of the oppressions exercised upon 
the Indians was regarded by them is very affect- 
ing. 

Among the burdens laid upon this defenceless 
people, was a personal service to the crown, called 
the mita, and it was imposed by conscription, A 
service to the crown, signifies a service to a king, 
commanded by law. Conscription is one manner 



136 GOLDMINES. 



of selecting persons for a public service. A list 
being made of a number of persons of a certain age. 
a portion of these persons are taken for the service 
— as from eighteen men, three upon the list, or one 
sixth, might be taken to labour in any public work. 

After the mines were in operation, thousands of 
the Indians were subject to the mita — that is, to be 
called to labour in the fields or the mines. The 
period of the labour required from them was some- 
times eighteen months, but so dangerous was the 
service in the mines, that the order to enter upon it 
was considered a death-warrant. The conscripts 
on receiving it would depart from their homes at- 
tended by their friends and relations, and these 
would sing melancholy dirges, and mourn over the 
fated men with all the ceremonies and all the giief 
which they expressed over the grave. At the 
frightful mouth of the mine, their wives and children 
often bade them an eternal farewell. 

It is but justice to state here, that the mines in 
JMexico are not now wrought by compulsory labour 
— that the mita is no longer in force — that its most 
fatal operation ever was in Peru, and not in Mexi- 
co — and that labourers in the mines of Mexico now 
receive tolerable wages, and are as comfortable and 
healthy as other labourers. 

Nor were the Indians the only sufferers in the 
colonisation of New Spain. " Certain it is," ob- 
serves one of the Spanish historians, " the suffer- 
ings of the Spaniards in the ?.>e\v v-frld, in search of 
wealth, have been more cruel and severe than ever 
nation endured." The difiiculties of raising houses 
to dwell in, the unhealthfulness of the climate in 
many places, the immense labour of constructing 
roads, the toil of labouring without proper tools, the 
state of warfare in which the first settlers lived, 



COMPLAINTS AGAINST CORTEZ. 137 

quarrels among themselves, and the small amount of 
what they could plunder from the natives when 
divided among many^ — all these, and greater trials, 
served to vex and wear out these selfish and tyran- 
nical men. 

Cortez himself did not continue to prosper. The 
emperor, after he had bestowed the supreme com- 
mand upon him, did not commit to him the disposal 
of all the profits arising from the wealth of the coun- 
try. Persons to whom lands were given were re- 
quired to pay taxes to the emperor, and to prevent 
any of this revenue from being misused or embez- 
zled, commissioners were appointed by the emperor 
to reside in New Spain, to take account of the 
revenues, and to make faithful reports and remit- 
tances to Spain. 

The commissioners were neither honourable nor 
just men, and they soon began to quarrel with 
Cortez. They sent to Spain false accounts of his 
wealth and misgovernment, and excited suspicions 
of his honesty in the mind of Charles. Inhumanly 
as Cortez acted towards the Indians, it appears in 
the whole of his history, that he was just to his coun- 
trymen and loyal to his king. When he found in- 
triguing and false-hearted men prejudicing the peo- 
ple and the king, whom he was endeavouring with 
such immense hazard and toil to enrich and exalt 
among the nations, he felt grieved and indignant ; 
and to vindicate his character, repaired to Spain in 
person. 

Cortez appeared in his native country in a style 
suitable to his riches and his achievements. He 
brought with him much of the wealth he had ac- 
quired, many jewels and ornaments of great value, 
several curious productions of the country, and was 
attended by most of his chief officers, and some 
12* 



138 CORTEZ VISITS SPAIN. 

Mexicans of high rank. Though this extraordinary 
man had passed great part of his hfe among rough 
adventurers, he was not destitute of refinement ; 
and the dignity and elegance of his manners, as well 
as the luxury of his equipage, challenged respect. 

The people of Spain felt all the admiration for 
Cortez with which common minds always regard 
conquerors ; and the emperor, in consideration of 
the eminent services he had rendered to Spain, re- 
ceived him courteously, and indeed admitted him to 
all the familiarity that was enjoyed by noblemen of 
the highest rank. Just before the departure of 
Cortez for Europe, a commissioner. Ponce de Leon, 
had been sent out to Mexico to seize his person, and 
send him prisoner to Spain, to answer to certain 
charges that had been made against him. 

Immediately on his arrival in New Spain, Ponce 
de Leon died, but Cortez understood the intention 
of his coming to the colony, and he was determined 
to defend himself before another summoqs so dis- 
graceful should recall him. Favourably as Cortez 
was received in Spain, he did not forget that he had 
been accused, and he desired to recover all his 
honours. The emperor notwithstanding did not 
reinstate him fully in his government, but he be- 
stowed on him certain flattering titles and other 
favours. The order of St. Jago, the title of Mar- 
quis del Valle de Guaxaca, were given him, besides 
large grants of land in New Spain. 

Cortez, though dignified with new titles, returned 
to America with diminished authority. He still re- 
mained commander of the army, and had a commis- 
sion to prosecute further discoveries ; but a court, 
which was called the Audience of JVeiv Spain^ took 
the civil affairs out of his hands ; and at a subse- 
quent time, Antonio de Mendoza was appointed 



DEATH OF CORTEZ. 139 

Viceroy, or representative of the king, and conse- 
quently held the highest dignity in the province. 

Mortified and afflicted to lose his pre-eminence, 
sought through so many dangers and crimes, Cor- 
tez employed his active spirit in prosecuting further 
discoveries. He fitted out ships from the ports on 
the Southern Ocean, discovered the large peninsula 
of California, and explored greater part of the gulf 
of that name. He afterwards penetrated by land 
from Mexico to Honduras ; and though this seemed 
to crown his first great enterprise, when he after- 
wards returned to Spain, he received no favors, and 
his consequence was so much reduced that he ended 
his days in vexation and sorrow. 

Cortez died in Spain, in 1547, in the sixty-second 
year of his age. " His fate," says Dr. Robertson, 
** was the same with that of all the persons who dis- 
tinguished themselves in the discovery or the con- 
quest of the New World. Envied by his contem- 
poraries, and ill-requited by the court which he 
served, he has been admired and celebrated by suc- 
ceeding ages." 

The ingratitude he suffered from the country 
which he laboured to benefit, is the article in which 
the history of Cortez chiefly resembles that of Co- 
lumbus. The character of Columbus is infinitely 
superior of the two, though there are some points 
of agreement between these extraordinary men. 
The love of science, and the love of mankind, were 
distinguishing qualities of Columbus, — in Cortez 
neither was manifest. Cortez was not without one 
species of charity, for he founded a hospital, and did 
other benevolent deeds ; but his treatment of tho 
Indians evinces a total want of the philanthropy 
which the conduct of Columbus exhibited. The 
love of his country, loyalty to his king, and zeal for 



140 GOVERNMENT OP 



religion, as they appeared in the actions of Cortez, 
had they been tempered with justice to all men, were 
noble sentiments. His spirit in enterprise, his per- 
severance in prosecuting his undertakings, his self- 
possession in danger, and the conciliatory deport- 
ment by which he secured his friends and appeased 
his enemies, are traits worthy to be honoured and 
imitated. 






CHAPTER X. 



Having concluded the life of Cortez, I think pro- 
per, before I describe to you the progress of the 
Spaniards in the conquest of the greater part of 
South America, to give you some information in re- 
spect to the government which was afterwards 
adapted, with some variations, by the emperor 
Charles V. to all the colonies of Spanish America. 
One of the first regulations of the emperor was, that 
a viceroy should reside in the conquered countries, 
and, as the name of viceroy signifies, that he should 
represent the king of Spain — that is, should be con- 
sidered a king — should govern the king's subjects 
with the same authority as the king, and that he 
should upon all occasions be treated with the same 
respect. 

The first viceroyalty established in America, was 
that of New Spain. It included the dominions of 
the king of Mexico, and extended to New Mexico, 
to the borders of that co\mtry now called Louisiana, 
and included the regions on both sides of the gulf 



NEW SPAIN. 141 



of California. It was a long time after the death of 
Cortez, before many Spanish settlers penetrated into 
these last mentioned territories, and their number of 
Spaniards is even now small. The natives have not 
easily submitted to the Spanish arms, and it was not 
till so late as 1771, that these countries were entirely 
conquered ; and there are still scattered tribes that 
maintain their independence. The whole country, 
from the gulf of Tehuantepec to the Isthmus, in- 
cluding Yucatan and Guatemala, belonged to the 
viceroyalty of New Spain. 

Look upon the map — all South America, except 
Brazil, became subject to Spain, and was divided 
into two viceroyalties ; that of Peru, which compre- 
hended the western division of the continent, and 
that of Terra Firma, which contained the countries 
that now form the republic of Colombia. A vice- 
royalty of La Plata, was afterwards added. 

The viceroy not only held the authority of a king, 
but he lived like one. His wife was called the vice- 
queen ; he had, about his palace and his person, a 
military guard of horse and foot soldiers, numerous 
servants, and a revenue, equipage, jewels, and 
apparel, like the kings of Europe, though not quite 
so splendid. 

The viceroy might have been a perfect despot, 
and have abused his power excessively, but a su- 
preme court, consisting of several judges, establish- 
ed over eleven districts, and called the Audieru.., 
was appointed to determine disputes and redress 
abuses. Though the viceroy appointed all public 
officers, granted pardons, and inflicted punishments, 
he was obliged to do all this according to certain 
laws of the Emperor Charles, called the Laws of the 
Indies. 

If the viceroy did not administer the government 



142 SPANISH GOVERNMENT 

as these laws directed, information against him 
might be made to the Audienca, and that tribunal 
might give information of his conduct to the Council 
of the Indies, who might condemn or justify him as 
they pleased, though the king of Spain might over- 
rule that Council if he chose. On the death of a 
viceroy, before another could be appointed, the 
senior judge of the court of Audienca, who resided 
in the capital, governed in his place. 

You will remember that Pope Alexander VI. gave 
all the countries which the Spaniards should discover 
in the western world, to the king of Spain. When 
a new tract was discovered, and taken forcibly from 
its former owners and occupants, the conquerors 
sent information of their conquest to the king of 
Spain, though the chiefs in the expeditions, divided 
the lands among themselves as they could agree 
upon. The principal officer, however, had need of 
a commission or writing from the king, to give 
him leave to dispose of the newly acquired territory. 

The Council of the Indies, was estabUshed by 
Ferdinand, in 1511. All the duties and privileges 
of this court, were determined by Charles, in 1 524, 
and it continued to direct American affairs, as long 
as the people of Spanish America acknowledged 
their dependence upon Spain. When, in trials, the 
parties concerned were not satisfied with the deci- 
sions of the Audienca, they referred to the Council 
of the Indies as a supreme court of appeal — one 
where a last sentence might be pronounced, which 
sentence finished the dispute. 

In respect to the trade of the Spanish colonies, 
the Council of the Indies would not permit the ships 
of any other country than Spain, to carry goods to 
them. The colonists were not permitted to send 
the productions of the country any where but to 



OF SOUTH AMERICA. 143 

Spain, and only to Seville, for a long time ; after- 
wards the merchants of Cadiz and of other ports in 
Spain were allowed to trade with the colonies. The 
inhabitants were only permitted to manufacture the 
coarsest articles of apparel. They could not culti- 
vate vines, olives, or silk worms, without a severe 
penalty ; and their clothes, furniture, instruments of 
labour, and many articles of food, were sent from 
Spain. 

As no other nation was allowed to send those 
articles from Europe, the Spanish merchants re- 
quired just what they chose, and the people, who 
paid for it chiefly in gold and silver, gave exorbitant 
prices. The people of Spain, therefore, were made 
ingenious and industrious, because they manufac- 
tured whatever was wanted in America, and they 
were made rich by the gold and silver from the 
colonies ; but the poor colonists were neither so 
well, nor so cheaply furnished as they might have 
been by a free trade. 

Though the settlers in Spanish America enjoyed 
a delightful climate, and the fruits of the earth were 
abundant, yet they were soon divided into the very 
rich and the very poor ; and all classes, for the 
want of schools of learning, were extremely igno- 
rant. The settlers and the Indians also, were 
instructed in religion by the Catholic priests. But 
the people were obliged to pay a tax to maintain 
these, and as there were many more of them than 
were useful, they became a great burden to the com- 
munity. 

The ecclesiastical establishment of a country, con- 
sists of the ministers of religion,.of churches, and of 
property for the support of the ministers. The ec- 
clesiastical establishment of New Spain, consisted 
of superior and inferior clergy. The rich and 



144 CHURCHES ESTABLISHED. 

titled, being archbishops and bishops. The inferior 
were parish ministers and missionaries. The former 
were the curas, and resided with their people ; the 
latter, the missionaries, were sent to the frontiers, 
to convert and civilize those rude natives who never 
submitted to the Spanish arms. The soldier of the 
cross, often effected that which he of the sword failed 
to do, and the good Jesuit in Paraguay and Califor- 
nia, brought under the discipline of religion, fierce 
spirits that armies could not terrify, nor fire-arms 
subdue. 

The churches in all the cities of New Spain, were 
exceedingly costly. Churches and convents in that 
country, are magnificent and richly adorned ; and 
on high festivals, the display of gold, silver, and 
precious stones is so great as would astonish a 
young person only accustomed to such " plain roofs 
as piety can raise" — simple places of worship, where 
God only, and not things of man's device, occupies 
the thoughts of the worshipper. Convents are esta- 
blished every where in New Spain. These are 
filled with unmarried men and women, who must be 
clothed and fed by the labour of others. 

Previous to the late revolution in Mexico, the in- 
habitants consisted of native Spaniards, of Creoles, 
or natives of the country, descended from Spanish 
ancestors ; of Mestizos, descended from Indian and 
white parents, and native Indians. Of the present 
population of Mexico, exclusive of Guatemala, a 
recent work on geography,* gives the following es- 
timate. One million of pure European blood ; and 
four millions of Indians. The mixed races com- 
prise two millions ; and about ten thousand negroes. 

It has been stated in this history, that when the 

* Hale's Geography. 



INDIAN WRONGS ALLEVIATED. 145 

Spanish conquerors took the lands, they dispossessed 
the Indians, and a law was made that the Indians 
should be divided into what was called Reparti- 
mientos, or so many Indians who were obliged to 
labour for the proprietor of a certain tract. 

These poor people were so greatly abused, that 
representations were made to the emperor of their 
injuries, and he took upon himself to redress them. 
Among the laws was one, that " the Indians should 
not be compelled to carry the baggage of travellers, 
to work in the mines, or to dive in the pearl fishe- 
ries." Other laws equally just to those unfortunate 
people, were made ; happy would it have been, 
could they have been carried into effect ! 

Every government requires, that every citizen 
should pay to support the civil order and establish- 
ed government. In every state there are officers 
of justice, an army to defend the nation, and other 
public servants. All these employ themselves for 
the benefit of the community — all people who live in 
society ; and, therefore, it is just that the people whom 
they serve should support them. To do this, every 
person who has any property, pays a small portion 
called a tax. All the taxes collected, form the 
revenue of the state, and this is paid to the public 
officers, as a recompense for their services. 

The Indians in Spanish America after the con- 
quest had no property, but, as they were declaredy^'ee 
citizens, the law required of them a certain service, 
as equivalent to the tribute or tax demanded of a 
freeman. The Indians occupied land belonging to 
the king, or to the proprietor of the district, and for 
this privilege he paid in labor. He was obliged to 
assist in the culture of the maize and other grain, in 
tending cattle, in erecting public buildings, in build- 
ing bridges, and constructing roads. 
13 



146 PRESENT STATE OF THE MEXICANS. 

The Indians who hved in towns, were subject to 
the Spanish laws and magistrates ; but in their own 
villages, for they are permitted still to reside in little 
communities, they were and are, in many instances, 
governed by their caciques ; some of whom are de- 
scendants of their ancient chiefs. These regulated, 
and still regulate their little affairs, according to their 
traditions and customs. At present, their mayor is 
often called by the Spanish name, alcalde. To en- 
force all these laws in every district, an officer was 
to reside, called Protector of the Indians. Part of 
the fruits of their labor, the tribute, was bestowed 
upon the alcalde, the protector, and the priests, who 
sedulously instructed these poor people. 

The monarchs of Spain at first devised generous 
things for their Indian subjects. -The young reader 
does not forget the pious purposes of Isabella in 
regard to them ; and her grandson, Charles of Austria, 
cannot be accused of an oppressive or extermina- 
ting policy towards them. But his wise and humane 
regulations were not carried into effect. The avarice, 
of the Spanish landholders, and the neglect or dis- 
honesty of magistrates, may have done much wrong 
to the natives, but it was not universal. 

The condition which some of them were in half a 
century ago, is thus described by Dr. Robertson : 
" In several of the provinces, they enjoy not only 
ease, but affluence ; they possess large farms ; they 
are masters of numerous flocks and herds ; and by 
the knowledge which they have acquired of Euro- 
pean arts and industry, are supplied not only with 
the necessaries, but many of the luxuries of life." 
Some account of the present state of the Indians, 
according to the report of late travellers, will be 
given in a subsequent portion of these pages. 



VICEROYS TO NEW SPAIN. 147 



CHAPTER XI. 

In the foregoing chapter I related to you some of 
the leading circumstances of the condition of Span- 
ish America during the first period of the colonisa- 
tion. The form of government ; the provision for 
the support of religion ; the restraints laid upon 
trade ; the different classes of people who became 
occupants of it, and the policy of the emperor 
Charles in respect to the natives of New Spain. 

In 1530, Antonio de Mendoza received the ap- 
pointment of Viceroy to New Spain, and one huU' 
dred and sixty persons after him were successively 
appointed to that function. In 1810, many of the 
inhabitants of Mexico having conceived a strong 
dislike to the government, determined to follow the 
example of their neighbours in the United States, 
and govern themselves. This change could not be 
effected peaceably, for numbers of the subjects of 
the king of Spain loved their dependence, and were 
imwilling to separate themselves from the parent 
country. In consequence of this difference, a long 
and dreadful civil war has ensued. This war, and 
the change of government that has resulted in con- 
sequence of it, is commonly called the Mexican 
Revolution. 

Among the Laws of the Indies, (Leyes de las 
Indias,) it was enacted that the discoverers, the set- 
Hers, and their posterity, and those horn in the coun- 
try, were to be preferred before all others in the public 
offices. If such persons had been chosen for 
magistrates, men who loved their countrymen, and 
who would have endeavored to make them good 
^nd happy, the people of Spanish America might 



148 THE MEXICANS DISSATISFIED 

have grown wiser and better. But of all the Vice- 
roys, only four of them were Creoles, and they were 
educated in Spain — thus the Spanish government 
did not observe its own laws in regard to the colo- 
nies. 

The Viceroys, and most of the principal officers 
of the army and the state, and the principal eccle- 
siastics, were European Spaniards, who were ap- 
pointed in Spain and came out to America to amass 
money, and did not care for the welfare of the colo- 
nists. Many of the Viceroys were vile men, who 
extorted ienormous sums from their subjects, and 
returned with their ill-gotten wealth to Spain ; and 
these, generally, besides the oppressions they in- 
flicted, injured the people by keeping them in igno- 
rance, declaring it not to be expedient for learning to 
become general in JVew Spain. 

In time, the Creoles feeling themselves to be in- 
jured, began to hate the Europeans; and the Eu- 
ropeans, enjoying the favour of the Spanish govern- 
ment, were proud of their advantages, and disdain- 
ful of the natives, so that they regarded each other 
with mutual jealousy and ill-will. Some of the 
Viceroys, however, were excellent men, who ad- 
rriiriistered the government with uprightness, and 
did much to promote the happiness of their people. 

Liberty is the right to make the best of their con- 
dition, which all people desire. Political liberty 
does not allow every man to do as he pleases — the 
strong to abuse the weak — the rich to oppress the 
poor— but it permits good laws to be enacted — it 
allows the people of a state to choose their rulers — 
it enables every person to go Avhither he desires, 
and to f6llow the business he likes. But that one 
man's freiedom may not destroy another's, laws are 
made for the benefit of the whole community ; and 



WITH THEIR RULERS. 149 

the laws instruct every one in society what he may 
do, and what he must not do, that all o^er people 
may be safe and happy. 

Nothing like this existed in Mexico. You have 
been told that the laws did not allow the Mexicans 
to trade with other countries than Spain, nor to cul- 
tivate certain useful vegetables, nor to educate their 
children liberally, nor to choose their own rulers. 
And the vast estates which in the settlement of the 
country were given to emigrants from Spain, enabled 
the great landed proprietors to keep large numbers of 
dependants in ignorance and poverty, so that the con- 
dition of no people could be more degraded. 

All these evils made some change necessary. 
The Mexicans were not all so very ignorant, that 
some of them had not heard there existed upon 
earth nations, among whom all people were cared 
for ; in which every man had his own property, 
every man might be taught to read and write, and 
every man might worship God in his own way — 
countries where the man who is injured may com- 
plain, and where he who wrongs his fellow-citizens 
must be punished. These better instructed persons 
wished to procure the blessings of civil liberty for 
their unhappy country. 

From the appointment of Mendoza in 1530, to 
1810, a period of two hundred and eighty years, 
this miserable people had suffered from the mis- 
government of Spain. You have been told that the 
condition of the peasantry is in some places tolera- 
ble, but that of great numbers in Spanish America 
is grievous. Some notion of their unhappy state is 
afforded by the facts that follow, as they are related 
by a gentleman once resident in Mexico. 

Sixty miles north of the city of Guanaxuato is one 
of the most extensive and valuable estates in Mexi- 
13* 



150 TENANTRY OF MEXICO. 

co-^the Hacienda del Jaral. Its proprietor, in 
1810, was a Creole, Don Juan de Moncada. His 
mansion, with all the gold and silver it then con- 
tained^ was valued at six millions of dollars. His 
estate extended two hundred miles in length, and the 
revenues derived from sales of cattle, horses, corn, 
wheat, and chile^ produced upon it, were immense, 
¥et this vast estate, and others of great magni- 
tude, exhibit the most miserable tenantry. No 
part of the earth affords more striking contrasts of 
wealth and misery. The master of this wealth may 
be seen decked out in awkward grandeur. " He has 
on a pair of country made boots, which cost from 
fifty to a hundred dollars; large spurs inlaid with 
gold and silver ; a superb horse, with a bridle and 
saddle which cost from a hundred and fifty to three 
hundred dollars ; a cloak or mangas richly em- 
broidered, and full of gold or silver buttons, laces 
and fringe. He lives in a spacious house, within 
whose walls every luxury is to be found that the 
country affords ; but when he sallies forth, he is lost 

* The great quantities of this pungent vegetable, which is 
gr'own in ahiiost every part of Mexico, strikes a stranger with 
astonishment. In the districts where the soil is best adapted 
to its culture, we behold enormous collections of it in all the 
magazines. For all culinary purposes, this vegetable is as 
essential to the Mexican, as salt is to the European, and indeed 
more so, because a Mexican would rather go without bread, 
than lack chile with his meat. At the table of the rich and 
poor, it constitutes an article of luxury, as well as necessity. 
Both in its green and dried state, the quantity consumed is 
incredible. When mashed, and mixed with a little water, it 
is the universal sauce or seasoning on the tables of the great ; 
whilst with the poor, it forms n. component part of their diet. 
More than one third of the Mexican population, live through- 
out the year on forlillas and chile; which last is spread on 
their tortillas, as butter is with us, though much thicker. On 
days of festivity, these poor people have an occasional change 
of diet, by the ad<lition of a fev/ eggs, or a little broth, (caldo,) 
but they never relinquish the use of their favourite chile. 



MISERABLE STATE OP THE MEXICANS. 161 

amidst a group of half naked, badly fed wretches, 
whose only dress is sheep skins, if in the country, 
and in a town their shoulders are covered by an old 
blanket or sheet, serving them for a partial cover- 
ing by day, and a bed at night. 

" No species of attention is ever paid by the lord of 
the soil to the comfort or wants of his tenants or 
vassals, and a more wretched race of cultivators does 
not exist, than the Indian labourers on these estates. 
In the cities, the poorer classes are still more 
wretched and numerous, than in the country. In 
some places, they are called Guachinangos, in 
others, Leperos, and Pelados. In the city of Mexi- 
co, that class of miserable beings is computed at 
thirty thousand, or about one fourth of the popula- 
tion. Some of them display great ingenuity, and 
evince what might be made of them if placed under 
other circumstances. They work beautifully in 
wax, gold and silver ornaments, in painting and 
sculpture, and in making boxes of beads : they 
know not the value of their labours. 

" The majority of these wretches live in idleness, 
and support themselves by gaming, which, of course, 
brings in its train all the other vices. Nothing can 
more forcibly depict the dreadful features of the 
Spanish government, than the existence of so much 
misery in a country possessing the finest soil and 
climate on earth, and where the actual population is 
not one thousandth part equal to the physical re- 
sources of this beautiful section of the American 
continent." 

It was the sight of wretchedness like this that 
disposed a considerable portion of the Creole popu- 
lation of Mexico to make some eftbrt to throw otf 
the Spanish domination, and about the year 1810 
the people were divided into two great parties. 



152 PENINSULAR WAR. 

. . .1 iM ^ ttm ■■ ■ ■ - ■ ■■ -11 1 - ft in « I 

Those who were attached to the old government 
were called Royahsts, and those who desired a new- 
order of things, Patriots. . ,. , 

A favourable opportunity to emanciipate them- 
selves now seemed to offer itself to the Mexican 
people. In 1808, Charles IV., king of Spain, ab- 
dicated the crown to his son, Ferdinand VII. But 
having done this, the foolish old king wrote to the 
French emperor, Bonaparte, that he had not wil- 
lingly resigned the kingdom. Some time previously, 
Bonaparte had engaged the king of Spain to assist 
him against Portugal, and had sent a large army into 
Spain under General Murat. Ferdinand VII. 
learning that his father had appealed to Bonaparte 
to reinstate him, thought proper to pay the emperor 
a visit at Bayonne, on the frontier of Spain. 

Bonaparte accordingly went to Bayonne to meet 
Ferdinand, and there contriving to get that imbecile 
monarch into his power, made him and his family 
prisoners in France, removed his brother Joseph 
from the throne of Naples, and made him king of 
Spain. The Spanish nation did not tamely submit 
to all this, and a dreadful war between the French 
and Spanish, called the Peninsular war, ensued. 
The Spaniards called over the English to their as- 
sistance, and under the renowned general, Lord 
WeUington, the war was continued till 1813, when 
the French evacuated Spain. Ferdinand was re- 
stored in 1814. 

During these six years, while all Spain was in a 
state of confusion and the colonies were left in 
some measure to govern themselves, the viceroy 
of Mexico, Don Jose Iturrigaray, received such 
contradictory orders from the king, Murat, and the 
Council of the Indies, that he thought it prudent to 
call a Junta of the provinces. A Jtrnta, in the 



REVOLUTION IN MEXICO. 153 

Spanish language, signifies an assembly of persons. 
The junta consisted of deputies chosen from all 
the most respectable men in the proTinc«s» and these 
assembled to deliberate upon the public affairs, and 
to concert measures to preserve order and peace in 
the state. The junta consisted of Creoles. It has 
already been mentioned that the European Span- 
iards disliked the Creoles, and they were exceed- 
ingly offended at the viceroy, because he had con- 
sulted them concerning their own and their country's 
interests. 

The Spaniards in the capital at this juncture con- 
spired against Iturrigaray, made him prisoner, and 
sent him and his family to Spain — taking upon 
themselves the government of the country till a new 
viceroy should be sent out from Spain. In due 
time a viceroy by the name of Vanegas arrived, who 
brought with him rewards and distinctions to those 
who had been most active in the persecution of 
Iturrigaray. 

The patriots were exasperated by the conduct of 
Vanegas and his party, a conspiracy of Creoles 
against the administration was formed, and the 
chief, Allende, joining himself to a priest named 
Hidalgo, as chiefs of the disaffected party, hostili- 
ties between the patriots and royalists commenced, 
Hidalgo was greatly beloved by the Indians, and 
they readily attached themselves to him and follow- 
ed him to battle. 

Hidalgo was prospered at the commencement of 
his enterprise. He and his men pillaged the houses 
of the Spaniards wherever they came, and in an at- 
tack upon the wealthy city of Guanaxuato, pos- 
sessed himself of five millions of dollars. Success 
always gains friends, and after the surrender of 
Guanaxuato, the neighbouring country received Hi- 



154 REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS 

dalgo every where as a deliverer, and multitudes 
joined his array. 

Hidalgo was not much skilled in military dis- 
cipline, but he knew that it was necessary to the 
prosecution of his plan. " After endeavouring to in- 
troduce some order among an army composed of all 
classes, and armed with pikes, clubs, hatchets, and 
a few muskets, he left Guanaxuato and marched to 
Valladolid, where he was received with shouts of 
joy by the Indians and Creoles. On the 24th Oc- 
tober, Hidalgo was proclaimed Generalissimo of the 
Mexican armies, and Allende and several others 
appointed generals under him. On this occasion 
he threw aside his priest's robes, and appeared in 
uniform. From Indaparapeo, where this ceremony 
took place, the patriot army marched towards the 
capital, and on the 27th of October, 1809, entered 
Toluca, a town not more than twelve leagues west 
of the capital. The royal forces were scattered 
throughout the kingdom, and Mexico was consider- 
ed in imminent danger." 

Hidalgo, notwithstanding his successes, was not 
destined to long continued good fortune. The 
royalists organized an army to oppose him, and gave 
the command of it to Calleja, a man equally without 
fear and without mercy. In the engagements be- 
tween the two armies, defeat and dispersion was the 
fate of the patriots. On the 21st of March, 1811, 
Hidalgo was betrayed by Bustamante, one of his 
own officers, and made prisoner with all his staff. 

" Fifty of his officers were executed on the field 
of battle. Hidalgo and Allende, with eight or ten 
others, were removed to Chihuahua, where, after the 
form of a trial, Hidalgo was shot on the 20th of 
June, 1811. Allende and the other officers were 
executed on the 20th of June. The death of Hi' 



IN SOUTH AMERICA. 155 

dalgo did not check the progress of the revolution 
in other parts of the kingdom." 

Morelos, another priest, nothing discouraged by 
the defeat of Hidalgo, assumed the command of the 
patriot forces, and was victorious in several actions 
fought with the royalists. Calleja was equally per- 
severing, and too often drove the defeated royalists 
before him. In one of his despatches to the vice- 
roy, he says, " an extent of seven leagues of ground 
was covered with the dead bodies of the enemy." 

Such was the spirit of the people, that these cruel- 
ties but exasperated them the more, and increased 
the number of patriots ; and their army, under dif- 
ferent leaders, sprea'd itself over great part of the 
provinces. Morelos, willing to stop the effusion of 
blood, and to secure peace rather than victory, as- 
sembled a congress, composed of forty members, 
which assembled at Apatzinjan, in the province of 
Valladolid. A constitution was framed and accept- 
ed by the provinces in possession of the indepen- 
dents, and they shortly after made proposals to sus- 
pend hostilities, and to enter into a treaty with the 
royalists, which were rejected with scorn and in- 
suit. 

" Calleja was appointed viceroy, with the title of 
Conde de Calderon, and the war was prosecuted 
against the independents with vigour, and with cir- 
cumstances of the most barbarous cruelty." 

Morelos found small benefit to his proceedings, 
from the wisdom of the congress. Whatever mili- 
tary plan he formed, the congress took upon them- 
selves the authority to disapprove or to alter as they 
chose, so that he was forced to dispute with the 
civil power when he ought to have acted according 
to his own judgment ; and the same calamities over- 
took him which terminated the career of Hidalgo. 



156 DEFEAT OF THE PATRIOTS. 



" Morelos made an unsuccessful attack on Valla- 
dolid, and in the retreat, Metamoros, a priest, who 
had throughout this contest displayed great valour 
and considerable military talent, was defeated, and 
fell into the hands of the royalists. Offers and 
menaces were resorted to by Morelos, to save the 
life of this officer, but in vain — he was degraded and 
shot." 

The death of Metamoros was soon followed by 
that of Morelos. The royalists attacked him on the 
5th of November, 1815. " After a short combat 
his troops were defeated, and he himself taken 
prisoner. He was conducted to Mexico, degraded 
and shot on the twenty-second of December, 1815, 
at San Christoval, in the neighbourhood of the capi- 
tal." Soon after the death of Morelos, the con- 
gress was dissolved by one of the patriot generals. 
" The military commanders in the different pro- 
vinces, acted from that moment as independent 
chiefs, and the war was feebly carried on, until the 
arrival of general Mina, who landed at Galveston, 
in November, 1816." 



GENERAL MINA. 

Xavier Mina was born in December, 1787. 
The father of Mina was a respectable man, who 
possessed a considerable domain near the town of 
Monreal, in the kingdom of Navarre. Mina was 
bred up in the country. The pleasures of his youth 
were innocent and adventurous. He delighted in 
the grand and beautiful scenery of the Pyrenees, 
and he formed a bold and fearless spirit in the so- 
ciety of young persons living in the same sequester- 
ed region, and accustomed like himself to the chase 
of the mountain goat, and to a thousand dangers 
and exploits of which the boys of cities never hear. 



CORTES ESTABLISHED. 157 

The education of Mina was not neglected. He 
was sent to study first at Pampeluna, and afterwards 
at Saragossa. 

In 1808, when the French invaded Spain, the 
wisest and boldest of the nation, indignant at the 
encroachments of the Bonapartes, and resolved to 
maintain the independence of their country, assem- 
bled throughout the provinces and formed juntas, to 
devise some mode of asserting and maintaining 
the national dignity. These renounced the au- 
thority of Joseph Bonaparte, proclaimed Ferdinand 
VII. king of Spain, declared war against France, 
and concerted other measures to secure indepen- 
dence to Spain. 

A body of national representatives, called the 
Cortes, was chosen from the provinces, the cities, 
and provincial juntas. Three individuals were cho- 
sen as a council to govern, till Ferdinand could be 
restored. These were called the Regency, and 
were to govern together with the Cortes, till the king 
should return to Spain. The Cortes employed 
themselves in forming a new constitution, and the 
Regency swore to follow all the articles of that con- 
stitution. 

Those who formed the constitution were attached 
to the deposed sovereign, and they laboured to rein- 
state him, and hoped he would govern the nation 
according to wiser and better laws than those of his 
ancestors. But how ill-founded were their antici- 
pations, appeared in the sequel. The first act of 
Ferdinand, when at length he was permitted to leave 
France, was a declaration that he would not accede 
to the constitution, and that the Cortes should resign 
all authority ; and from that moment the Spanish 
government has exhibited the same ignorant, bigot- 
ed, and foolish policy that must keep the nation de- 
14 



158 EXPLOITS OF 



graded, and inferior to the other states of Europe 
while it exists. 

I have been thus particular in relation to the state 
of afidirs in Spain at the beginning of the Mexican 
revolution, that you may the more readily compre- 
hend the history of Mina. While that young man 
was engaged in his studies at Saragossa, in 1808, 
the invasion of Spain took place, and the whole na- 
tion felt itself dishonored by the usurpations of the 
Bonapartes. Mina abandoned his books, eagerly 
engaged in the military service, and was present in 
three battles. 

The French at that time were the most invincible 
soldiers in Europe, and the Spanish armies were de- 
feated in every encounter, so that they constantly 
retreated before them. In this gloomy situation of 
affairs, Mina undertook a most dangerous service. 
It was to take a position in his native mountains ot 
Navarre, and cut off couriers and supplies which 
might be sent from France to the army. To arrive 
at the station proposed, it was necessary he should 
pass through a country occupied by the French, but 
he shrank from no danger ; and accompanied by 
twelve men, passed securely into Navarre. It 
shows the exceeding danger of this service, that af- 
terwards ten of Mina's companions perished in it. 

" The first attempt of Mina was upon a small 
guard of a dozen French. He attacked them with 
about twenty men, and captured them without much 
resistance. The next, was on a party of thirty men. 
The Spaniards, who had nearly the same number, 
lay concealed behind a stone wall; upon the ap- 
proach of the enemy, they rose and fired. In the 
contest which ensued, a tall grenadier fired at Mina 
with deliberate aim, and, taking shelter behind a 
tree, encouraged his party. But the Spaniards^ 



GENERAL MIWA. 159 



leaping the wall, rushed on, and settled the combat 
with their sabres. This successful beginning pro- 
duced the most important results. Th© spirits of 
the peasantry were roused ; many successful adven- 
tures took place ; the French foraging parties were 
cut to pieces ; their convoys attacked and plunder- 
ed ; and their couriers intercepted. 

*' The Spanish government had scarcely finished 
their rejoicing for the first successes of Mina, when 
they were again surprised by his sending them a 
laige body of prisoners, among whom was a lieu- 
tenant colonel ; and, at another time, seveti hundred 
prisoners, with a quantity of military equipments, 
stores, and money. The French were not passive 
spectators of these chivalrous exploits. Upwards 
of thirty individuals, nearly or remotely connected 
with Mina's family, were suddenly arrested, and 
sent into France." 

Among the relatives of Mina thus driven from 
theii- country, was an accomplished lady to whom 
he was to have been married. From her, and from 
the dearest of his friends, the cruel fate of war divi- 
ded him then and for ever. 

" Repeated expeditions were undertaken to de- 
stroy Mina, but the affections of every peasant be- 
ing with him, and having correct intelligence of eve- 
ry movement, he was enabled, not only to baffle and 
elude his enemies, but frequently coming on them by 
surprise, to defeat and destroy his pursuers. A hill, 
near his father^s mansion, was his principal retreat. 
He was familiar with its fastnesses, and solitary re- 
cesses, and the neglected flocks of his own family, 
furnished him and his brave companions with food. 
When he determined on striking a blow, he gather- 
ed his forces like a tempest on the mountain top. 



160 CAPTUkE AND 



and, descending in his power, swept the province to 
the very gates of Pampeluna. 

" The account of his successes ran through the 
country, and excited a powerful interest in the minds 
of the people. He was thence soon enabled to 
raise a respectable division of troops, whose num- 
bers were increased by the peasantry, whenever it 
was contemplated to strike a blow. The central 
junta of Seville conferred on him the rank of colonel 
and, soon after, the dignity of commandant general 
of Navarre. The junta of Arragon also appointed 
him commandant general of upper Arragon. i 

" In the winter of 1810 — 11, Mina was directed 
by the Spanish government to destroy, if possible, 
an iron foundry near Pampeluna, from which the 
French were supplied with a number of articles for 
the service of the war. This enterprise was fatal 
to him. Two strong bodies of French troops, on 
their march in contrary directions, arrived at the 
same time at the two entrances of a narrow valley. 
Mina and his corps, who were then in the defile, 
were completely enclosed. The fight that ensued 
was obstinate and bloody. The gallant Mina, de- 
fending himself with his sword, fell, pierced with 
wounds, a prisoner, into the hands of the enemy. 
Thus ended the rapid but brilliant career of Xavier 
Mina in Spain." 

After his capture Mina was taken to Paris, and 
shut up in the castle of Yincennes, and no intelli- 
gence was allowed to be carried to him, so that he 
could hear nothing from his relations or of the war 
in which he had been so zealously engaged. At the 
age of twenty-one, he was cut off from liberty, and 
all prospects of happiness or usefulness. In time, 
however, books were given to him. He applied 



rMPRiaONMENT OF MINA. 161 

himself to the study of the miUtary art, and took 
pleasure in the society of certain officers who had 
fallen under the displeasure of Bonaparte, and were 
his fellow-prisoners. At the general peace which 
took place in Europe, Mina was set at liberty. 

He returned to Spain, but not to the service of 
Ferdinand. Mina, as has been told, was of the 
party of the constitutionalists or liberates, as they 
were called, and his misfortunes did not alter his 
principles. Ferdinand knew the character of Mina : 
his love of liberty ; his detestation of arbitrary 
power ; his ability as a military officer ; his honora- 
ble spirit ; and the amiable manners and disposition, 
by which he engaged the good will of all whom he 
endeavored to influence. 

To remove Mina from Spain, was a desirable 
object to Ferdinand, and he thought to engage the 
gratitude and the good offices of the young officer, 
by appointing him to an elevated station abroad. 
He therefore offered him the command of the army 
in Mexico ; a post next in dignity to that of the 
viceroy. Mina could not accept this distinguished 
post. He wished well to the cause of liberty in 
the colonies, and he could not prosecute a war 
against those who were contending for it ; conse- 
quently he declined this seeming favour of his sove- 
reign, and that he might not be punished for his 
refusal, retired to his native country of Navarre. 

In Navarre the younger Mina joined his uncle, 
Espoz Mina, and they concerted a plan to re-esta- 
blish the constitution. They consulted some other 
officers, and if the spirit of the soldiers, and of the 
nation, had resembled that of these resolute men, 
their project might have succeeded. But they could 
not act alone, nor were they ever able to obtain the 
command of a sufficient force to make a successful 
14* 



162 mina's arrival in Mexico. 

effort. Satisfied that Spain was no longer a coun° 
try worthy to serve, Mina passed over to England, 
there to wait for some occasion in which his abili- 
ties, and his generous zeal for the good of mankind 
might be exerted. 

The British government honored the principles 
which had driven this high-minded young man into 
exile and poverty, and bestowed on him a pension, 
suitable to his rank and merit. While he resided 
in England, Mina was treated in a highly flattering 
manner by many eminent persons ; but an idle 
selfish life, however agreeably it might be made to 
pass, could not satisfy the active mind and magnani- 
mous spirit of the gallant Spaniard. The proper 
field for his services seemed to be Mexico, and 
thither he repaired to aid the suffering patriots. 

General Mina sailed from England for the Ches- 
apeake, May 1816. He had been furnished with a 
ship, arms, and military stores, by some gentlemen 
in England, who wished to assist his generous enter- 
prise, and was accompanied by thirteen Spanish and 
Italian, and two English officers. General Mina's 
intention in visiting the United States, was to obtain 
correct knowledge of the state of the war in Mexico; 
to procure arms, and other articles necessary in the 
prosecution of war; and to engage, if possible, some 
able officers to accompany him to Mexico. 

On his arrival in the Mexican territory, Mina col- 
lected a small force, and with about three hundred 
men, officers and soldiers, proceeded to the interior. 
Some small towns surrended to him as he proceeded. 
After a march of six hundred and sixty miles, he 
joined the patriots at Sombrero. This toilsome 
march was accomplished in thirty-two days. The 
troops suffered great fatigue and privation, but the 
cheerfulness and energy of their leader, gave them 



MINA IN MEXICO. 163 

courage, and seeing him at once self-denying and 
persevering, they felt themselves ashamed to com- 
plain, or to yield under their hardships. 

From Sombrero, Mina sent despatches to the ill- 
organized government which the patriots maintain- 
ed, setting forth his earnest desire to help their 
cause, and offering his services in any way that 
might be most acceptable. He also wrote to Padre 
Torres, the commander in chief of the army, ex- 
pressing the same purpose. 

It must be lamented that Minn did not better un- 
derstand the service to which he devoted himself. 
To abase tyranny, and estabhsh the rights of man, 
to give the inhabitants of New Spain all the pri- 
vileges of good citizens, and to raise them to an 
honorable rank among nations, was the design of 
this gallant officer ; but no body of men among the 
people for whom he ventured his life, was sufficient- 
ly wise to devise any plan of conduct, or virtuous 
enough to desire and struggle for a well ordered 
government ; and it was, therefore, worse than use- 
less to hazard so much, and to lose all in their 
behalf. 

The royalists were united to maintain the ad- 
vantages they possessed, and to retain the country 
under the dominion of Spain. The more disinter- 
ested of the patriots, wished well to the cause of 
liberty, but many of their leaders thought more of 
enriching themselves, than of serving their country. 
Many of the revolutionary chiefs, were " of the most 
illiterate of the Mexican population, men whose sole 
aim was power, that they might by its aid acquire 
wealth. Many of these men were, from common 
field laborers, raised to the rank of colonels and bri- 
gadiers. Their conduct became licentious and cruel 
m the extreme ; and, as several of them were daring 



164 INHUMAN CONDUCT OF TORRES. 

and enterprising, they were equally dreaded by 
royalists and patriots." 

The most unworthy of all was 'Torres. He was 
equally destitute of good sense and humanity ; but 
he had temerity to undertake any thing, and a con- 
summate hatred to royahsts. He was also n. priest; 
and the respect entertained in the country for that 
function, served to recommend him to the patriots. 
Those who have read Roman history, will remem- 
ber that Brutus, the first consul of Rome, was ex- 
ceedingly admired, because he sentenced to death 
his own sons, when he detected them in a conspiracy 
against the state. An instance of this species of 
hard-hearted patriotism, was exhibited by Torres. 

" On one occasion, there fell into the hands of the 
royalists two of his younger brothers. They were 
compelled to write to him, telling him, that their 
lives depended upon his embracing the royal cause ; 
that, did he not do so, they would be shot. To this 
appeal, he returned the following answer : ' The 
proposition of the royalists has served only to rouse 
my indignation. If the enemy do not shoot you, be- 
ware how you fall into my hands at any future period. 
In such an event, that death you have escaped 
from the royalists, will be received at my hands, for 
having dared to place your lives in competition with 
the interest of your country, and insinuating to me 
terms so dishonorable.'" 

Among those who flocked to the patriot standard, 
were many, as has been remarked, who were addict- 
ed to the lowest vices. Torres enjoyed the society 
of these men, and made them the tools of his ava- 
rice and degrading pleasures. " He would gamble 
and drink with them ; would run races and fight 
game cocks, till the parties were stripped of their 
money, in which science he was extremely dexte- 



COURAGE OP THE CREOLES. 165 

rous. In short, as long as the commandants con- 
formed to his instructions, he neither investigated 
nor cared, what was their conduct. It was therefore 
by no means extraordinary, that Torres, after being 
appointed commander in chief, maintained an abso- 
lute power, and that his orders were imphcitly and 
promptly obeyed." 

" It was with men of this character, that the unfor- 
tunate Mina was destined to co-operate. He beheld 
around him nothing but gross ignorance and anarchy, 
which threatened to render all his efforts ineffectual. 
Disappointed and mortified, he yet concealed his 
chagrin, except to a few of his confidential officers. 
He had anticipated a different scene ; and, although 
he never had calculated on finding the revolutionary 
forces under military discipline, or with skilful offi- 
cers, yet he had portrayed them in his mind a» en- 
thusiasts in the cause of liberty, and had always 
understood that they were a brave and hardy race of 
people. 

" During his recent march from the coast to 
Sombrero, he had received the most positive proofs 
of the innate courage of the Creoles ; and was, 
therefore, still flattered with the hope that it would be 
in his power to succeed in emancipating Mexico ; 
and he considered his junction with the patriots, 
even under all the disadvantages in which he found 
them placed, as the first great step to his future 
success." 

I have been thus particular, that I may rationally 
account for the disastrous fate of the unfortunate 
Mina. In several successive battles with the royal- 
ists, Mina prevailed, and his forces were constantly 
augmented. His amiable conduct to prisoners 
whom he took, was calculated to inspire respect and 
trust, and his success made him dreaded by the 



166 SIEGE OF SOMBRERO. 

royalists, who determined to stop his progress. One 
of the most fortunate of his enterprises, was the 
taking of the hacienda of Jaral. The extent and 
value of this estate has already been mentioned. Its 
owner belonged to the royalist party, and it was, 
therefore, deemed a fair prey to the patriots. This 
rich estate fell into the hands of Mina, and the trea- 
sure with which it abounded, served him to pay and 
clothe his troops. 

Mina, though he had applied to Torres for a regu- 
lar command, and was disposed to act in concert 
with the army under him, was never able to effect 
any well ordered union. Torres hated Mina for his 
military skill and his merit. He knew that he might 
in time, easily overrule his power, and he avoided 
any sincere and effective junction with the troops 
under his command ; many patriots, however, joined 
Mina, and he made himself so formidable to the 
royalists, that while he was at Sombrero, after 
the capture of the Jaral, an army under Pasqual 
Lilian, was sent against him. 

After an obstinate defence, Mina was forced to 
evacuate Sombrero, and lost the whole of his army, 
except fifty men. During this siege the horrors of a 
cannonade, almost without intermission, were aggra- 
vated by hunger and thirst. The country had suffer- 
ed from a long drought, and the fort of Sombrero, 
which Mina commanded, contained nine hundred 
persons, men, women, and children. These were 
Usually supplied with water from a distance. On 
the approach of the enemy, they had furnished 
themselves with a supply, but it was soon expended. 

" The only well in the fort, which was at the 
house of Don Pedro Moreno, had never contained 
water. All the stagnant water in the crevices around 
the fort was consumed. The horrors of thirst be- 



SUFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE. 167 

came dreadful. Recourse was had to some wild 
celery, which luckily grew around the fort : it was 
plucked, at the risk of life. But these were only 
partial alleviations. Some of the people were four 
days without tasting a drop of water. The situation 
of the garrison was fast approaching to a crisis. 
The troops at their post were hourly becoming less 
capable of exertion, from the severity of their suffer- 
ings. The cries of children, calling on their unhap- 
py mothers for water, gave to the scene of suffering 
peculiar horror. 

" The countenance of the general showed how 
deeply he sympathized in the sufferings of his asso- 
ciates : but he cheered them with the hope that the 
God of nature would not abandon them ; he pointed 
to the heavy clouds with which the atmosphere was 
loaded, as the source from which relief would speedi- 
ly be obtained ; and such was the effect that Mina's 
example and consoling observations inspired, that 
each individual strove to vie with another in bearing 
with fortitude the severity of his distress. 

"With anxious expectation, they marked the ap- 
proach of the heavily charged clouds, hoping that 
the predictions of a supply from them would soon 
be verified. Every vessel was ready to receive the 
grateful showers. The women brought out the 
images of their saints, supplicating their interven- 
tion for that relief which Heaven only could bestow. 
The clouds covered the fort : no sound was heard, 
amidst the general anxiety of the wretched garrison, 
save the thunder of the enemy's artillery, whose 
troops, with savage exultation, looked down on the 
besieged from their position on the hill. The flat- 
tering clouds passed slowly over the fort, — the 
moment was anxiously looked for, which was to eas© 



168 SUFFERINGS FOR WATER. 

their sufferings ; — a few drops fell ; — anxiety was 
wrought up to the highest pitch ; — but the clouds 
passed, and burst at a short distance from them ! 

" Language is inadequate to describe the emotions 
of despair which at that moment were depicted on 
every countenance in the fort. For several days 
the clouds continued thus to pass, without discharg- 
ing a single drop on the parched garrison, who had 
the cruel mortification of seeing their enemies fre- 
quently drenched with rain, and the large lake of 
Lagos constantly in view. Such were the trials 
experienced at this ill-fated spot. At length, after a 
lapse of four days, a slight shower fell. Every arti- 
cle capable of containing the desired fluid was in 
readiness, and in spite of the incessant fire of the 
enemy, a supply was collected, sufficient to yield a 
temporary rehef to the suffering garrison. A small 
supply was collected in reserve." 

Linan having succeeded thus far, proceeded 
against the patriots with untiring perseverance, and 
Mina knowing it was fool-hardiness to oppose so 
large a force, withdrew himself to the mountains 
near Guanaxuato. From his place of refuge he 
soon sallied forth, and having mustered eleven hun- 
dred men, marched at their head against Guanaxuato, 
hoping to dispossess the royaHsts of that rich city. 
It is not surprising that he failed in this under- 
taking. 

Immediately after his defeat, Mina resorted to a 
family, whom he had great reason to love and 
esteem. *' Retaining with him forty infantry and 
thirty cavalry, the general determined to proceed to 
the residence of his friend Don Mariano Herrera, 
at a neighbouring rancho called El Venadito. 

"Its owner, Don Mariano Herrera, was a native of 
Guanaxuato. A man of high respectability, and of 



J 



RESIDENCE OF DON MARIANO. I6d 

a mind well cultivated. He had suffered severely 
from the royalists. Orrantia had laid waste the 
hacienda, burned the buildings, and pillaged the 
church, converting it into a stable. The unfortu- 
nate Don Mariano had fallen a prisoner into his 
hands, and had been carried off by him, together 
with all his property that could be collected. After 
being thus despoiled, and his fine estate destroyed, 
he was compelled to ransom his life by paying 
twenty thousand dollars. 

" Upon being set at liberty, he returned to his 
estate, and there employed himself in the pursuits of 
agriculture. His mansion and buildings being burn- 
ed, his crops destroyed, his cattle and moveables 
taken away, and his funds exhausted, he was unable 
to restore his estate to its pristine condition ; but k 
became a place for his persona! sji[bsistence and 
rest. Indeed had he possessed the means of re- 
calling its former comforts and beauties, it would 
only have exposed him anew to the depredations of 
an insatiable rapacity. He therefore constructed 
only a small house, and as his dependants were de- 
voted to him, he hoped from the peculiar situation 
of the Venadito to enjoy a secure retreat. 

" In this solitary spot Don Mariano passed his 
time, solaced by the attentions of a beloved sister, 
who had torn herself from her friends in Guanaxu- 
ato, to partake of her brother's fortune. 

" Mina and Herrera had formed for each other a 
warm friendship ; the former gave to the latter his 
entire confidence, of which he was in every respect 
deserving. From these circumstances, and the 
position of the Yenadito, Mina thought himself per- 
fectly secure. He therefore determined to pass the 
night at the rancho with his friend, and ordered the 
horses of the cavalry out to pasture. During the 
15 



170 MINA AND DON 



afternoon Don Pedro Moreno,* who resided in the 
neighbourhood, visited Mina and remained with him. 
The troops encamped in advance of the house ; 
videttes were posted ; and the general was so satis- 
fied of his security, that, contrary to his usual cus- 
tom, he retired to rest on the floor in the house." 

In passing to this retreat, Mina had stopped for 
refreshment at the small town of Silao, and was there 
visited by a certain priest. Mina received this man 
with the respect due to the ministers of religion. 
By some means or other, the padre discovered the 
place to which the general was repairing, and lost 
no time in giving information of it to Orrantia, the 
commander of the royalists. Orrantia lost no time 
in pursuing Mina, and early one morning, while 
Mina was sleeping in false security, the house of 
Herrera was surrounded by Orrantia and his men. 

" Mina, awakened by the noise and tumult of his 
flying troops, started from the floor, and rushed out 
of the house in the same apparel in which he had 
passed the night, without coat, hat, or even his 
sword. Regardless of his person, his first object 
was to attempt the rallying of his flying troops : but 
all his exertions were unavailing. He soon found 
himself alone. He beheld the enemy pursuing and 
cutting down his flying comrades ; and attempted, 
when too late, to secure his own safety ; but the 
enemy were upon him. Still hallooing to the fugi- 
tives to halt and form, he was seized by a dragoon : 
having no arms whatever, resistance was useless. 

" The dragoon who captured Mina was ignorant 
of the rank of his prisoner, until informed of it by 
the general himself. He was then pinioned, and 
conducted into the presence of Orrantia, who in the 

* An officer in tlie ptvU'iot service. 



MARIANO MADE PRISONERS. 171 

most arrogant manner began to reproach him for 
having taken up arms against his sovereign, and to 
interrogate him concerning his motives in thus be- 
coming a traitor, insulting him, and lavishing upon 
him the bitterest criminations. Mina, who on the 
most trying occasions never lost his presence of 
mind and characteristic firmness, replied to the in- 
terrogatories with such strong expressions of con- 
tempt and indignation, that the brutal Orrantia started 
from his seat, and heM tvith the flat of his sword his 
disarmed and pinioned prisoner. 

" Mina, motionless as a statue, endured this 
indignity for a moment ; and then, with the forti- 
tude of a self-disciplined and elevated spirit, he 
looked down upon his conqueror, and said ; ' I 
regret being made a prisoner ; but to fall into the 
hands of one regardless of the character of a Span- 
iard and a soldier, renders my misfortune doubly 
keen.' The magnanimity of Mina filled every man 
present with admiration, and even Orrantia stood 
confounded with the severity of his rebuke. Don 
Mariano Herrera, and about fourteen of the troops, 
were made prisoners : these, with the exception of 
Don Mariano, were executed. 

" The fate of this generous friend of Mina is 
marked by so many singular circumstances, that it 
would be unpardonable to pass over it without 
notice. Don Mariano was conducted to Irapuato, 
and there thrown into prison. His affectionate sis- 
ter accompanied him. Her exertions were unremit- 
ting to save her brother's life. On her knees, in his 
behalf, she implored the mercy of the leaders of the 
royalists. Her intercession at length prevailed. 
After he had been sentenced to death, and was blind- 
folded at the place of execution, he was reprieved. 
Unexpectedly snatched from the verge of the 



172 EXECUTION OP MINA. 

grave, he was bereft of reason ; and, in the close 
confinement in which he was subsequently placed, 
became permanently deranged. His only and con- 
stant employment was twisting his beard, which had 
grown very long. He became unconscious even 
of the presence of his sister ; and his few incoherent 
expressions were lamentations for the fate of his 
friend Mina. The exertions of the sister to alle- 
viate the situation of her wretched brother, were 
unceasing. How far she had succeeded in her pious 
intentions, we regret that wc cannot ascertain." 

The royalists exulted exceedingly in the capture 
of Mina. Orrantia proceeded with his prisoner to 
Silao, and he was afterwards entrusted to Lilian. 
On receiving intelligence of these transactions, the 
viceroy Apodoca ordered Mina to be shot, and the 
order was executed, November 11th, 1817. "In 
the last scene of his life the hero of Navarre was 
not unmindful of his character ; with a firm step he 
advanced to the fatal spot, and with his usual sere- 
nity said to the soldiers, " Take good aim — do not let 
me suffer." The commanding officer gave the ac- 
customed signal ; they fired, and that spirit fled from 
earth, which, for all the qualities which constitute 
the hero and the patriot, seemed to have been born 
for the good of mankind. 

" Thus perished this gallant man, in the twenty- 
eighth year of his age. His short but brilliant career 
entitles him to a distinguished place on the list of 
those heroes who have shed their blood in bold and 
generous exertions to extend the blessings of free- 
dom among the human race. 

" No man was ever better calculated to execute an 
enterprise of hazard than Xavier Mina. His person 
was slight, but well formed, and about five feet seven 
inches in height. His physical structure was well 



HIS CHARACTER. 173 



adapted for action* His moral qualities were ad- 
mirable. Personal valour he possessed in an eminent 
degree. Serene in the hour of danger, he was 
always prepared to seize upon any advantages that 
were offered by the conjuncture of events. At the 
head of his men, he infused into them his own spirit. 
In his diet, he was frugal in the extreme ; no priva- 
tions nor hardships seemed to affect him. He 
always preferred the simplest beverage. His cloak 
and saddle were his usual bed. Even in the worst of 
weather, when every accommodation could have 
been afforded him, he encamped with his troops. 
He was affable, generous, and candid ; his modera- 
tion and humanity were alike conspicuous, and to 
all the qualities of the soldier he united the manners 
and accomplishments of the gentleman." 

It was not the fortune of general Mina to advance 
the revolution. That he meant to do good cannot be 
doubted — that he failed to do it must be lamented. 
Not possessing the means to support the project he 
engaged in, he was forced to become the oppressor 
of a people among whom he adventured, that he 
might deliver them from oppression. In this contest 
between oppressors and deliverers, mines were 
closed, villages burnt, whole districts laid waste, 
industry rendered useless, families dispersed, chil- 
dren made fatherless, and innumerable lives lost. 
Who, that considers these things, would not say 
with Dr. Franklin, " There never was a good war, 
nor a bad peace." 

The civil war in Mexico continued till 1S22. By 
that time both patriots and royalists had conceived a 
sincere hatred to Spain, and the leaders of both par- 
ties thought it expedient to desist from fighting, and 
to fall upon some system of government that should 
secure the independence of Mexico, and the peace 
15* 



174 CAREER AND DEATH 

of the nation. .A Creole, Don Augustine Iturbide, 
who had been an active officer of the royalists, held 
the command of their forces, and to engage the co- 
operation of the other party, united himself with 
Guerrero who commanded the patriots. 

In February 1822, Iturbide proposed to the vice- 
roy, and to all governors of provinces, the plan of a 
new form of government. It proposed that Euro- 
peans and Creoles should accommodate their differ- 
ences ; that the Catholic religion should be univer- 
sally observed ; that Mexico should be independent 
of Spain ; that the government should be a limited 
monarchy ; and that the crown should be offered to 
Ferdinand VII. or to some prince of his family, who 
must reside in the country, and agree to maintain a 
constitution that might be formed by a congress, 
which should be called for the purpose. 

Apodaca was not well pleased with these measures 
of Iturbide, and would have set the royalists in array 
against his plan : but they in the capital not holding 
him in respect, deposed the viceroy and set a mili- 
tary officer in his place. In the mean time, Iturbide 
proposed his plan to his officers, and they swore to 
maintain it, and chose him Lieutenant General. 
Iturbide pretended to renounce this distinction, and 
to act with the officers entirely as their equal. The 
public officers would not have fallen so readily into 
this plan, but its last article, that a congress should 
be called, disposed them to agree to it ; because the 
congress, they conceived, might discuss and settle 
every thing. 

Soon after the union of Iturbide and Guerrero, a 
new viceroy. General O'Donoju arrived from Spain, 
This officer finding the authority of Spain annihila- 
ted surrendered the capital to the revolutionists. " As 
soon as they took possession of the city, a Junta^ 



OF PRESIDENT ITURBIDE. 175 

composed of thirty-six members, was appointed ; and 
a Regency, consisting of five persons, was chosen, 
of which Iturbide was made president. He was 
at the same time appointed admiral and general- 
issimo of the navy and army, and assigned a yearly 
salary of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars." 

Iturbide did not rest satisfied with this exaltation. 
Parties broke out, and fresh quarrels. The army un- 
der Iturbide at the time proved the strongest, and 
on the 18th of May, 1822, the officers and soldiers 
proclaimed him emperor, under the title of Au- 
gustine First. Iturbide kept this dignity till the 8th 
of March, 1823, when he tendered his abdication to 
the Congress. The Congress declared that to ac- 
cept his abdication, would be to admit that he was 
truly an emperor ; they therefore recommended, that 
he should be sent out of the country, as a man dan- 
gerous to the public peace, and that twenty-five 
thousand dollars should be allowed him annually for 
the support of himself and his family. 

Iturbide afterwards went to Leghorn, but he had 
not the discretion to stay there ; he returned once 
more to Mexico ; however, he was received as an 
intruder, and was taken and executed as a traitor. 
The present government of Mexico is republican, 
and its independence has been acknowledged by 
Great Britain and the United States ; but the igno- 
rance of the nation at large, the confused state of the 
finances, and the want of wise leaders, make the 
moral and pohtical condition of this country far from 
happy ; and when, and how, divine Providence will 
bring light out of darkness, and order from confu- 
sion, time only will discover. 



176 B0UNDAE5ES OF MEXICO. 



CMAFTER XII. 

Those who have read the history of the conquest, 
the colonization, and the revolution of Mexico, will 
be more completely instructed in respect to that 
country, so profusely blessed by the Creator, and so 
unworthily abused by mankind, if they should be in- 
formed of its living manners, and physical features, 
the present state of the inhabitants, and the produc- 
tions with which nature has enriched it. A brief ab- 
stract of these follows here : 

That part of North America, exclusive of Flo- 
rida, which was conquered by the Spaniards, is now 
divided into Mexico and Guatemala. Mexico ex- 
tends from Guatemala, including New Mexico, New 
California, and New Albion, to the United States 
Territory ; and lies between the Gulf of Mexico and 
the Pacific Ocean ; its length from north to south 
being about ISOO miles. Near the sea coast the 
land is low, and the climate for the most part un- 
healthy ; but the land in the interior is high, and dif- 
ferent ranges of mountains, generally called the Cor- 
dilleras, lie in this country ; some of these moun- 
tains appear to have been volcanic. 

The inhabitants of Mexico no longer acknow- 
ledge the authority of the king of Spain, have organ- 
ized a government of their own, though it is not 
yet well established : the country is divided into 
nineteen states, and five territories ; and, like the 
people of the United States, the Mexicans have a 
legislature in each state, and a congress composed 
of members elected from all the states ; they have 
also a president and vice president. 

Many Spaniaixis, during the last half century, 



ANTIPATHY TO THE SPANIARDS. 177 

emigrated from old Spain to Mexico, but they were 
not liked by the Spanish Mexicans. The latter would 
say, " the Spaniards bring hither the practices of 
Spain ; they wish that this country should pay taxes 
to Spain, and be governed by the tyrannical and fool- 
ish laws of their native country ; therefore, men born 
there, shall not be citizens of this country, and not 
another man from Spain ought to be permitted to 
settle in Mexico." 

In consequence of this opinion, the congress, 
after the revolution, enacted a law that the Spanish 
residents should be exiled, or forced to quit Mexico, 
and that no Spaniard should be permitted to come 
thither. This law forced many unfortunate persons 
to leave their homes, their families, and their fortunes, 
— for the exiles were permitted to take only a part of 
their property — and compelled them to wander about 
the world in search of subsistence. 

The Indians are a great number of distinct races, 
very different from one another. They have given 
up the idolatrous and cruel religion of their ances- 
tors, and have ^ been zealously instructed in the 
Catholic worship by priests of that persuasion. 
The Catholic faith is acknowledged all over Mexi- 
co. There are one Archbishop and eight Bishops, 
besides multitudes of priests, and great numbers of 
magnificent churches. 



The capital of the country is Mexico. It is at a 
nearly equal distance from the Gulf of Mexico and 
the Pacific Ocean, and near the twentieth parallel 
of north latitude. Vera Cruz is a seaport on the 
Mexican Gulf, and Acapulco on the Pacific. Mex- 
ico contains 150,000 inhabitants; Puebla, 60,000 ; 
and Guanaxuato, 35,000 ; the other towns, though 
numerous, are small. 



178 VERA CRUZ. 



The port of Mexico at which Europeans gene- 
rally land, is Vera Cruz, on the gulf of Mexico ; 
Vera Cruz is near the 20th parallel of north latitude. 
The gulf of Mexico abounds with sea-birds, whales, 
dolphins, and flying-fish ; and in fine weather, under 
a beautiful sky, the navigation of this gulf, anima- 
ted as it is, with so many forms of life and en- 
joyment, affords an infinite variety of interesting 
objects. 

On approaching the coast, the mountain Orizaba 
fisrt stikes the eye of the voyager ; the height of this 
peak is 17,000 feet above the level of the sea, and 
its lofty summit, capped with everlasting snows, and 
touching the clouds, may be discerned at the dis- 
tance of one hundred and fifty miles. Vera Cruz 
is dreadfully unhealthy, and many lives are lost every 
year by fevers of the country. Vera Cruz contains 
about 7,000 inhabitants ; the houses are built in the 
Spanish or Moorish style ; the only water tliere which 
is fit to be drank, falls from the clouds, and is pre- 
served in tanks. 

" One class of the occupants of this city,'* says a 
late traveller, " is the carrion vultures. They are 
as tame in the streets as domestic fowls, and like 
the dogs from the mountains at Lisbon, act as the 
scavengers of the place. Their senses of sight and 
smell are very acute ; they eagerly snatch up any refiase 
substance, and as numbers pounce upon it at once, 
they do not devour it without much contention. The 
vultures and dogs are upon very ^-ood terms, and are 
frequently seen feasting upon the same carcase ; sev- 
eral hundred vultures may sometimes be seen to- 
gether on the roofs of churches in Vera Cruz." 

Sixty-six miles from Vera Cruz, in the interior, 
lies the city of Xalap-a or Jalapa, celebrated as being 



CITY OP XALAPA. 179 

the place whence the medicine called Jalap is ob- 
tained. To this place there is no smooth road, nor 
any commodious stage coaches. A rude carriage, 
drawn by mules over a very rough way, takes up 
four days to traverse the country between Vera 
Cruz and Mexico. Part of this country nearest the 
sea is a sandy desert, without road or human dwel- 
ling, and equally destitute of water, of plants, and 
of animals. 

But at length the weary traveller arrives at a 
more pleasant region, where the most luxuriant and 
magnificent plants appear in all their beauty. These 
favored tracts are inhabited : at short distances from 
the road may be seen Indian huts, neatly built, cov- 
ered with palm leaves, and lined with mats ; and the 
woods are enlivened with multitudes of eagles, ori- 
oles, cuckoos, and the splendid cardinal bird. The 
plumage of the last, is a vivid scarlet, and the con- 
trast of its hue with the deep and glossy green of 
the foliage, upon which it hangs for a moment, and 
then darts away like a meteor, is very striking. 

In some places may be seen mounds or tumuli, 
sometimes called teocalli, which are monuments 
raised by the ancient Mexicans over the dead. Inns 
or Posados are on the road-side, and constructed of 
interwoven branches and leaves, with a thatched 
roof, and are more like a great bird-cage than a 
house. Travellers usually carry with them their own 
food, and beds ; if they have no beds, they must lie 
upon the ground floor of the Posado, not very far 
from the mules, and perhaps be kept from sleep by 
those animals, which kick, and champ their corn all 
night. Xalapa contains about 13,000 inhabitants ; 
it is built in the Spanish fashion, and has eight hand- 
some churches. " In one of these churches," says 



180 HELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES 

the author of Six Months in Mexico, " I attended 
high mass on Sunday. All the ladies wear black, and 
are dressed alike, with a handsome lace veil thrown 
over the head : many of the congregation were 
Indians, who had come to market, and it was a pleas- 
ing sight to observe with what attention and devo- 
tion, this simple and innocent people, the descend- 
ants of ancestors who practised a cruel and san- 
guinary worship, offered a pure and fervent service 
to the Creator." 

The people of Xalapa, like the greater part of the 
inhabitants of Mexico, know little concerning Eu- 
rope ; they beheve that the whole continent is subject 
to Spain ; that England, France, Italy, Holland, and 
Germany, all belong to Spain, and that they are petty 
provinces under Spanish governors. Of European 
wars they know nothing ; the Europeans, however, 
are as ignorant of America ; Puebla and Guatemala 
are populous and wealthy cities, but not many per- 
sons in Great Britain know that they exist. 

The Mexicans, by whom I mean the Spaniards 
now natui-ahzed in Mexico, are very fond of saints ; 
they respect ihoir images, pray to them, and believe 
that they can perform cures ; they make very pretty 
processions sometimes. At Xalapa a gentleman saw 
one of these, carrying a figure of Christ bearing the 
cross, the streets through which the procession 
passed, had been swept, watered, and strewed with 
orange leaves and flowers ; and many of the houses 
decorated with flowers and drapery, had small crosses 
over the door. 

The Mexicans dance, play on the guitar, and 
amuse themselves by different games ; the traveller 
already mentioned partook of these diversions. — 
When the ladies ride on horseback, they sit on the 
light side of the horse, before a gentleman or ser- 



AND AMUSEMEN'TS. 181 

vant, who contrives to keep his fair partner upon her 
seat, and to manage the horse at the same time. It 
is to be regretted that the bull-fight should still be afa- 
vorite amusement of all the people of Spanish origin. 

An exhibition of one which was offered to a rural 
party near Xalapa, is thus described : "A fine young 
bull was brought and tied by a long cord to the 
stump of a tree : the beautiful little animal seemed 
for a while to enjoy the noisy sport as much as any 
of the company, till he had received several very 
marked insults, when he lost his temper, and with 
considerable violence ran at an Indian, against 
whom he had already shown symptoms of hostility. 
Several persons now joined in the attempt to work 
him up to the highest point of irritation ; the young 
men advanced in front of him, first with merely a 
pocket handkerchief in their hands, and when they 
had provoked him to attack them, they would step 
aside, and leave the handkerchief covering his face. 
" The contest had continued without any one being 
endangered, till in a furious charge at his Indian 
friend, the bull broke the rope ; but the sable adver- 
sary very dexterously turned short round, seized him 
by the tail, and contrived so to hold him, till another 
rope was passed round his body and he was again 
secured. A soldier next leaped on his back, but after 
a few efforts, the animal threw him to a considerable 
distance, and he fell with great violence. The ani- 
mal now became quite furious, when an Indian 
sprang upon his back, clasping his sides with his 
legs, and resisting every effort of the bellowing 
brute to dislodge him, finally gallopped off into an 
adjacent wood." 

The women of Spanish America, besides taking 
pleasure in bull-fighting, also find amusement in wit- 
nessing cock-fighting, a strong proof that the females 
16 



182 CITY OF PUEBLA. 



of these countries are far inferior to those of the 
United States, and of Europe, in sentiments of hu- 
manity, in refinement, and intellectual enjoyment. 

The city of Puebla is fifty miles from Xalapa. 
The foundation of Puebla was laid by the Spaniards 
in 1533. It now contains 90,000 inhabitants. Pue- 
bla is adorned with many splendid churches, the 
grandest of which is the Cathedral. From the tower 
of the Cathedral may be seen the city and its envi- 
rons. The highest mountain of Mexico, Popocate- 
petl, rears itself above several inferior volcanic emi- 
nences, and the pyramid of Cholula, six miles dis- 
tant, and a work of human hands, is distinctly seen. 

The houses of Puebla are spacious, and generally 
three stories in height, with flat roofs, and many are 
covered with tiles of various colours, some forming 
a picture in the style called Mosaic. The houses 
usually surround a court, and are adorned with an 
iron balustrade into which pots of beautiful and fra- 
grant flowers are placed. The chief apartments of 
the houses are adorned with paintings and images 
of our Saviour and the Virgin, and of some distin- 
guished saints. These are often framed in silver. 
These houses are frequently refreshed with a foun- 
tain of pure water. The ground floor is occupied 
by shops and warehouses, the middle story by 
tradesmen, or servants of the family, and the upper 
part by the proprietor of the house. 

The Cathedral of Puebla is considered by per- 
sons who have travelled in Europe to be one of the 
grandest edifices consecrated to religion in the 
world. Concerning it the traveller, before quoted, 
says, " The materials are the most beautiful marble 
and precious stones that can be found in New Spain : 
its numerous and lotty columns, with plinths and 
capitals of burnished gold, the magnificent altar of 



CHURCHES AND POLICE, 183 

vsilver, crowned with statues, &c. have an unequalled 
effect. I know nothing equal to it in Europe." 

The same writer thus describes a religious ser- 
vice which he attended : " The whole Cathedral, 
with all its costly appendages, and fretted golden 
roof, were displayed and illuminated by thousands of 
wax-lights, reflected from gold and silver chandeliers 
of the finest workmanship : an altar covered with 
massive plate ; (as fresh as from the hands of the 
artizan ;) a host of officiating clergy, arrayed in the 
richest vestments ; the waving of banners ; the so- 
lemn music, and a powerful and well-conducted 
band ! that heart must have been cold indeed which 
could have remained inanimate amid such an affecting 
scene : — he who would wish to see the gorgeous 
pomp of religious ceremony should visit Puebla." 

The Police of Puebla is administered by four 
Mcaldes, or mayors, with subordinate officers. " The 
markets of Puebla, as in most Mexican cities, com- 
mence with the dawn of day, and it is an interesting 
sight to a stranger to see them thronged by the va- 
rious Indian tribes, busied in arranging and display- 
ing their different commodities to advantage ; the 
whole placed on the ground, and protected from the 
sun by umbrellas of a rude construction. The In- 
dian women, clean, and neatly dressed, surrounded 
by their children, expose for sale the fine tropical 
fruits and vegetables, which are often brought a long 
distance from the warmer districts (Tierras callien- 
tes.) The poultry, which is plentiful and cheap, 
occupies another division of the market, and the 
cooked meats a third — here the Indians, with fires 
of charcoal, prepare in large quantities, and in a va- 
riety of ways, meat, poultry, and vegetables. Great 
quantities of earthenware are also exposed in the 
markets, and the stranger will be pleased to observe 



184 THE CHOLULANS. 

the beautiful way in which the Indian women expose 
a variety of Hquors, of every colour and flavour. | 

Bread is prepared of a variety of forms and ma- ' 
terials, and Europe cannot produce better than the I 
wheaten which is found here : indeed, the necessa- ; 
ries of life, and most of its luxuries, (fish excepted) ■ 
are to be had at a reasonable rate. j 

The Mexicans manufacture many useful and beau- | 
tiful articles of pottery ware, though they are infe- | 
rior to the porcelain of China or of Europe, " but in ! 
the coarse, red wares they excel, both as to the ele- \ 
gance of the forms and patterns, as well as in regard j 
to the size and lightness. The whole of their cook- j 
ing utensils are formed of earthenware, metal ves- i 
sels being unknown in their kitchens ; to which, in- | 
deed, the former is preferable, and so cheap that a i 
few shillings will furnish all the requisites of a gen- ■ 
tleman's cuisine." 

Six miles from Puebla is Cholula, once famous for i 
its pagan worship. The chief TeocaUi, or Temple, I 
was an immense pyramid formed of stages or plat- j 
forms. The original form is almost concealed by | 
the vegetables which have been permitted to over- i 
grow it, and it now resembles a natural hill. It will I 
be remembered by the reader that in the time of Cor- I 
tez, the Cholulans conspired to destroy the Spaniards, i 
but that the conqueror, discovering their plot, inflicted • 
upon them the most unsparing punishment, and that 
they afterwards united with the Tlascalans to aid ; 
Cortez in the subjection of the capital. j 

Between Puebla and the city of Mexico are seve- j 
ral extinct volcanoes. These are not unfrequent in 1 
Mexico : but no person living has seen any erup- I 
tion. The suburbs of Mexico are mean and dirty, 
and the traveller meets in them people covered with I 



CITY OF MEXICO. 185 

rags, or wrapped in a single blanket. But the city 
once entered repays the stranger for the disgust 
which he feels in approaching it. He is struck with 
delight, at the sight of its regular streets, " its houses 
with their light balconies, covered parterres of 
shrubs and flowers, — its situation in the grand val- 
ley of Mexico, with its sea-like lakes, surrounded 
by snow-capped volcanic mountains, the highest in 
New Spain ; and by the appearance of its inhabi- 
tants in their extraordinary dresses and singular 
equipages. 

" Many of the streets are nearly two miles in length, 
perfectly level and straight, and with the ends ter- 
minating in the view of the mountains that surround 
the valley. - The houses are chiefly of a uniform 
height, generally of three stories, highly decorated, 
and ornamented with two rows of balconies of 
wrought iron, painted or gilt, and some of bronze. 
The stories are very lofty, the apartments being from 
fifteen to twenty feet in height. The first or ground- 
floor is entered by a pair of large folding gates, or- 
namented with bronze, often thirty feet in height. 
These lead into the court-yard, surrounded by the 
house, filled with trees and flowers, producing a 
very pleasing effect, and having a gallery to each 
floor, sheltered from the sun and rain. 

The lower apartments are generally occupied by the 
porter and other servants ; the floor above is often let 
ofl*; but the highest, which is the principal, is occupied 
by the family themselves, having a separate stone 
staircase of great magnificence leading to it. No- 
thing can be better calculated than these residences 
for the delightful climate of a country where change 
of temperature is scarcely known, where perennial 
spring tor ever reigns, where fire-places are never 

16* 



186 DESCRIPTION OP THE 

seen, and where it is even scarcely necessary to 
have glass windows to exclude the night air from 
the bed-rooms. All that is requisite is a strong roof 
to protect you from the heavy rains that occur at 
certain seasons, and lofty rooms to afford a free cir- 
culation of the air ; and certainly nothing can be 
better adapted for this purpose than the style of ar- 
".hitecture introduced by the Spaniards into Mexico. 

" The fronts of the houses are in general either 
white, crimson, brown, or light green, painted in dis- 
temper, and having a pleasing appearance ; and the 
dryness of the atmosphere is such, that they retain 
their beauty unimpaired for many years. Many of 
these fronts have inscriptions upon them taken from 
Scripture, or stanzas addressed to the Saviour or 
the Virgin. 

" Numbers too are entirely covered with glazed 
porcelain, in a variety of elegant designs and pat- 
terns, often with subjects from scriptural history, 
giving the whole a rich and Mosaic appearance, quite 
different from any thing of the kind in Europe. 
The walls of their great staircases are frequently 
covered in the same manner, and mixed with a pro- 
fusion of gilding, which, in contrast with the blue 
and white porcelain, has a splendid effect. 

" The roofs are all nearly flat, and bricked, and many 
of them are covered with flowers, affording a pleasant 
place of resort in a fine evening, as the prospect is 
delightful, and the air refreshing and uncontaminated 
by smoke. Owing to this species of ornament, the 
city, seen from an elevation, presents a far more 
beautiful appearance than any of those of Europe, 
where the red-tiled deformed roofs, and shapeless 
stacks of chimneys, are the principal features in the 
prospect," 



CITY OF MEXICO. 187 

The interior of these houses agrees little with their 
outward appearance. Twenty years of revolutionary 
warfare have reduced the rich to poverty, and have 
prevented any class of persons from acquiring 
wealth, or preserving and adorning their habitations. 
During the first century after the conquest, the 
Spanish adventurers, acquiring immense wealth, liv- 
ed in the greatest luxury, erected churches, and orna- 
mented their houses with a profusion which their de- 
scendants are unable to afford. 

" The cathedral of Mexico is famed for its splen- 
dour and riches. It is about 500 feet long, includ- 
ing a building behind the altar, and stands in the 
great square, occupying the ground of the grand 
temple, or Teocalli, of the ancient Mexicans." 

" In the Mexican churches," says the author of 
the Six Months in Mexico, " we do not meet with 
that distinction of pews and seats so universal with 
us. Here on the same floor the poorest Indians, 
and the highest personages in the land, mix indis- 
criminately in their prayers to that Being to whom 
all earthly distinctions are unknown." 

In relation to the manner in which the Mexicans 
regard the dead, the same author remarks : " It is 
not customary to erect monuments to the deceased, 
nor is even the name inscribed to point out to sur- 
viving relatives or friends the spot of interment. In 
no part of New Spain did I observe any memorial of 
the dead, except in the chapel which contains the 
bones of the conqueror Cortez ; there, a fine bronze 
bust, cast by Tolso, is placed near to them." 

There are many convents in Mexico that are very 
rich, and the religious processions are conducted with 
great order and splendor. On these occasions the 
magistrates and gentlemen of the city appear in full 
dress. The city pours forth its whole population, 



188 HOSPITAL FOUNDED BY CORTEZ. 



and then only has the stranger an opportunity (in 
the crowded balconies and windows) of seeing the 
ladies to advantage. A fete in the neighbourhood 
of the capital constitutes one of the principal sources 
of amusement to the populace, where dancing, 
gambling, and cock-fighting seem to be the leading 
pastimes. 

" The palace of the Viceroy is a noble building, 
and of greater extent than any thing of a similar 
class in England. It stands on the south side of 
the great square, and contains many of the public 
offices, the Prison, the Mint, the Botanic Garden, 
the Library, Government Printing Office, &c. &c. 
The Library contains many valuable manuscript 
works." 

The hospital of Jesus in the city of Mexico, was 
founded and endowed by Cortez, and in the chapel 
of the institution, by his express desire, were deposit- 
ed his remains. In one of the rooms are several 
portraits of the family of Cortez, and one of the 
great captain himself, " with the identical embroid- 
ered standard under which he wrested this immense 
empire from the hands of the unfortunate Montezu- 
ma. We were shown a massive table of mahogany, 
which was extraordinary from its size, the top being 
formed of only one plank, and still more remarkable 
from having been the property of the conqueror. 
There is a neat church belonging to this establish- 
ment, containing a monument to the founder, with a 
pompous inscription, recording his actions, and 
surmounted, as I have before mentioned, by a well 
executed bust in bronze." 

The Alameda, or public walk of Mexico, is laid 
out in gravel walks, with fountains, and some mise- 
rably executed statues. No great display of good 
company is seen in this promenade. 



RECREATION OF THE MEXICANS. 189 

" Another drive and ride, called the Passeo, is 
about two miles long, planted with double rows 
of trees, and mostly frequented on Sundays and 
holydays. Many handsome well-mounted and well- 
dressed young men, ambling on their pretty little 
horses, here display their persons and equestrian 
skill to advantage. A number of elegant carriagca 
and equipages are sported on these occasions." 

The writer was not much delighted with the Passeo. 
Of the Indians in the vicinity of Mexico, he gives 
the following interesting description : *' From the 
account I had received of the Passeo, I was a little 
disappointed ; but the sight of the Indians returning 
home from their little Sunday excursions in their ca- 
noes, on the canal of Chalco, which is close to the 
ride, made ample amends. In the fine evenings, 
during the dry season, the environs of the city pre- 
sent a scene of bustle, gaiety, and pleasure, scarcely 
to be paralleled ; hundreds of canoes, of various 
sizes, mostly with awnings, crowded with native In- 
dians, neatly dressed, their heads crowned with the 
most gaudy flowers, are seen passing in every direc- 
tion : each boat, with its musician seated at the stern, 
playing on the guitar, and some of the party singing 
or dancing, and often both united, presents such a 
picture of harmless mirth as I fear is rarely to be 
met with on similar occasions in our own country. 

" The canal lies through swampy savannahs, some- 
thing like those in the West Indies, in which vegeta- 
tion is very luxuriant ; several pretty villages are on 
its banks, and we saw Indians catching tortoises, 
from whom we procured specimens. We landed 
about a quarter of a mile from a church, to which 
was a raised path, and entered the Indian village by 
a bridge of unhewn timber, and were in the midst of 
the houses before we were seen. We were first ob- 



190 FERTILITY OF THE COUNTRY. 

served by a group of nearly naked children, who 
instantly set up a cry of terror, and disappeared ; a 
general alarm was now spread ; all the women were 
at the doors in an instant, and appeared terrified at 
the sight of strangers. 

" The place was surrounded with chinampas, or 
what have been improperly called floating gardens. 
They are artificial islands, about fifty or sixty yards 
long, and not more than four or five wide, separated 
by ditches of three or four yards in width, and are 
made by taking the soil from the intervening ditch, 
and throwing it on the chinampa, by which means 
the groivnd is raised generally about a yard, and 
thus forms a small fertile garden, covered with the 
finest culinary vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Mex- 
ico receives an ample supply from these sources. 

" Being pressed to dine, we accepted the invitation, 
and sent a man to bring our canoe, from which we 
made some addition to the repast. Our host liked 
our Madeira, and begged a small cup for his wife, 
who had been just confined ; we sent her the remain- 
der of the bottle ; and this little act of civility soon 
brought us acquainted with the whole family, who 
treated us in the kindest manner ; — we dined, and 
spent two hours with them, and parted, I believe, 
mutually pleased with each other. Our canoe had 
been steered through the chinampas to the door of 
our new friend, and most of the villagers came to 
see us oflT." 

An account of the market in Mexico, will serve 
to show the abundance of provision, for the suste- 
nance and comfort of man, which the Creator has 
granted to that fertile region ; and it will likewise 
exhibit the Indians, as capable of taking a useful 
part in civilized society. 



MARKETS IN MEXICO. 191 

" One of the most interesting sights to an inqui- 
sitive stranger in Mexico, is a ramble early in the 
morning to the canal which leads to the lake of 
Chalco. There, hundreds of Indian canoes, of 
different forms and sizes, freighted with the greatest 
variety of the animal and vegetable productions of 
the neighborhood, are constantly arriving ; they are 
frequently navigated by native women, accompanied 
by their families. The finest cultivated vegetables 
which are produced in European gardens, with the 
numberless fruits of the torrid zone, of many of 
which even the names are unknown to us, are piled 
up in pyramids and decorated with the most gaudy 
flowers. 

"In the front of the canoes, the Indian women, very 
slightly clothed, with their long glossy tresses of jet 
black hair flowing luxuriously to the waist, and often 
with an infant fastened to their backs, push the ca- 
noe forward with long slender poles. In the centre, 
under cover, the remainder of the family are seated, 
mostly employed in spinning cotton, or weaving it, 
in their simple portable looms, into narrow webs of 
blue and white cloth, which forms their principal 
clothing. 

" Other boats are loaded with meat, fowls, turkeys, 
and a profusion of wild ducks, which they pluck and 
prepare on their way to the market ; generally throw- 
ing the feathers, which they consider of no value, 
into the water. Others again are freighted with In- 
dian corn, the general food for horses, in bulk or 
straw, reared like floating pyramids. Milk, butter, 
fruit, and young kids, are all in the greatest plenty, 
and what adds to the picturesque appearance of the 
whole is, that nearly every canoe has a quantity of 
red and white poppies spread on the top of the other 
commodities ; and if there be a man on board, he is 



192 APPEARANCE AND BEHAVIOUR 

usually employed in strumming on a simple guitar 
for the amusement of the rest. The whole of this 
busy scene is conducted with the greatest harmony 
and cordiality. These simple people seldom pass 
each other without saluting, " Buenos Dias Senor, 
or Senora,"* is in every mouth, and they embrace 
each other with all the appearance of sincerity. 

" They land their cargoes a little to the south of the 
palace, near the great market ; and remove the va- 
rious commodities on their backs to the^lace where 
they deposit them for sale. This market is well 
worth visiting at an early hour ; — when thousands of 
Indians assembled with their various commodities for 
sale, many of them from a considerable distance, 
form one of the most animated sights that can be 
imagined. 

" Besides the articles furnished for the table, the 
Indians dispose of wool, cotton, coarse cotton cloth, 
manufactured skins, earthen-ware, baskets, &c. in 
the market, and it is an amusing scene to witness 
them collected in large parties with their children 
seated on the ground, enjoying their frugal meals 
of tortilios and chile. 

" The Indians are generally clean in their appear- 
ance, and orderly and modest in their behaviour. In- 
dians are seldom seen on horseback, or walking, on 
the roads ; their ordinary pace being a kind of trot, 
or short run, in which manner they proceed to the 
town, carrying heavy loads. In returning from the 
market they are not so expeditious : they are, how- 
ever, always respectful and polite to strangers. 
While these are passing they stop, take off their 
hats, and salute them ; and they are always much 
pleased to be spoken to, or noticed. 

* Good day,' Sir, oi- Madam. 



or THE INDIANS. 193 

" The Indian huts vary much, according to the situ- 
ation in which they are placed. Those in the warmer 
parts are a mere bird-cage, made of canes or sticks, 
and roofed with leaves. In the mountains, near the 
snow, as at Las Vegas, they resemble the houses of 
Norway, and Alpine Switzerland, being composed, 
like them, of solid logs of wood. Some are of split 
boards ; many of unburnt brick, with flat roofs ; and 
near Mexico and ToUuca, of stone. They have 
always a neat little garden attached lo them. 

" The villages, in favorable situations, are so en- 
closed and screened by the luxuriant foliage in which 
they are enveloped, that a stranger may pass with- 
out observing them. Their neat simple residences 
have often afforded me much pleasure : — their bed, 
a mat spread on the floor, or a net suspended from 
the ceiling — a few earthen vessels and calibashes — 
with the stone for preparing their tortilios, or bread 
of Indian corn — form the bulk of their earthly goods. 
The rude figure or print of a Saint, and generally a 
few toys of earthenware, serve as ornaments, and 
constitute their finery ; yet I have never seen a peo- 
ple more truly happy and contented." 

It were to be wished, that the Indians were all as 
happy and amiable as has been described ; but, un- 
happily, the vices of intoxication and gaming are prac- 
tised among them. Pulque has an inebriating quality, 
and some of the Indians frequently indulge in it, and 
then, like other drunkards, they beat their wives, and 
commit other foolish and degrading actions. Mex- 
ico exhibits many of these people, who like the La- 
zaroni of Naples, have no habitation, but live, 
scarcely clothed at all, in the open air. The streets 
of Mexico are also infested with many Indian beg- 
garso These are of the most disgusting desGription, 

17 



194 ANTIQUITIES AND CONVENTS. 

importunate, blind, crippled, crawling and rolling 
about the places of public resort, and sometimes 
carried upon each others' backs. 

The principal antiquities are the great Calendar 
and Sacrificial stones, a colossal statue of the god- 
dess Teoyamiqui, the hieroglyphic pictures, and the 
pyramids. The sculptured idols of ancient Mexico 
were innumerable. The foundation of the first 
church erected by the Spaniards in Mexico, was 
formed entirely of those images. They are now 
often used as corner stones of houses. 

In the city of Mexico are twenty-three convents, 
occupied by about three thousand monks and nuns, 
and about two thousand Catholic priests. In all 
New Spain it is supposed there are about fourteen 
thousand Catholic clergy a 

The common people of Mexico wear garments 
manufactured by themselves. Their bodies and 
limbs are covered with leather, without a shirt or 
stockings. The breeches are loose at the knees. 
The shoes are of hide. Over the whole they throw 
a square cloth like a shawl, with a hole in the mid- 
dle, through which the head is thrust. This gar- 
ment is common alike to the Mexicans and Peru- 
vians ; the former call it the manta^ and the latter 
the poncho. 



On the lake opposite to Mexico, is the ancient 
city of Tezcuco, once a populous and rich town, 
and now filled with the ruins of temples, fortresses, 
and palaces. It still contains a very fine aqueduct, 
and its most remarkable edifice was the palace of 
the ancient caciques^ or tributary kings of Tezcuco. 
This palace was three hundred feet in length, and 
was composed of huge blocks of stone, cut and 



REMARKABLE ANTIQUITIES. 195 

polished with great care. So great was the quanti- 
ty of these stones, that whoever built a house in 
Tezcuco after this palace was overthrown by the 
Spaniards, might serve himself of its ruins for his 
quarry. In this palace Cortez and his whole army 
were entertained. 

Tezcuco was the place in ancient Mexico in 
which persons of the greatest learning and science 
resided, and here they made their collections of sun- 
dry valuable and curious articles. These the Span- 
iards regarded as so many abominable things, be- 
longing to heathens and inJfidels, and treated them 
accordingly. The first Spanish bishop of Mexico, 
soon after the conquest, entered the market place, 
and having collected the documents of Mexican 
history, knowledge, and literature — all the Awec 
paintings, manuscripts, and hieroglyphical writings ; 
— and, forming them into an immense pyramid, 
committed the whole to the flames amid the unavail- 
ing prayers of the people for their preservation. 

Between Mexico and Vera Cruz is Otumba, 
which once contained 50,000 inhabitants, though it 
is now a poor place. Near Otumba are abundance 
of tumuli. These may be seen in long rows, not 
unlike hay-cocks in a field, except that they are 
formed of unburnt brick. These toocalli are sup- 
posed to be temples, tombs, or places of defence. 
Perhaps they served for all those purposes. 

The most remarkable antiquities of Mexico are 
the pyramids, the chief of which is called the pyra- 
mid of the Sun. One of the sides of this pyramid 
is 645 feet, and its height is 171 feet. This pyra- 
mid is in very perfect preservation ; one of inferior 
size, at a short distance from it, is more delapidated. 
From the summit of this pyramid, the eye takes in 
the greater part of the vale of Mexico, its lake and 



196 STRANGE CUSTOM. 

city, and commands an extensive view of the plains 
beneath, and the mountains that bound the west of 
the valley. 

" It is not in the present capital of New Spain 
that we are to look for the remains of Mexican 
greatness, as every vestige of its former prosperity 
was annihilated by the conqueror. He was com- 
pelled to demolish and level with the ground every 
house as he took it, and 50,000 Indian workmen 
followed close at the heels of his soldiers, to com- 
plete the work of destruction, and fill up the canals 
in every street with the remains ; but the founda- 
tions of the present city are visibly raised upon, and 
stand on the ruins of the old. It was the wish of 
the Spaniards not to leave a trace of former Mexi- 
can greatness, or even a recollection of the people 
they had destroyed ; and they succeeded almost en- 
tirely in their object." 



Among customs, strange to us, which prevail in 
Mexico, one deserves notice. " The first sight of 
a milliner's shop here must always raise a smile on 
the face of a newly, arrived foreigner. Twenty or 
thirty brawny fellows, of all complexions, with mus- 
tachios, are exposed to the street, employed in de- 
corating the dresses, and sewing muslin gowns, in 
making flowers, and trimming caps and other arti- 
cles of female attire ; whilst perhaps at the next 
door, a number of poor girls are on their knees on 
the floor, engaged in the laborious occupation of 
grinding chocolate, which is here always performed 
by hand." 

" The water-carriers of Mexico are a numerous 
body, who bring this necessary article from the de- 




.A BEEXI'CAF, 1C4,T-EB. e^ufiBSSS;, 



MEXICAN DRESS AND CUSTOMS. 197 

posits of the aqueducts to private houses in large 
globular jars, poised on their backs, and supported 
by a strap from their heads, from which is suspended 
another smaller one, to serve as a counterpoise to 
the larger. 

" The costumes of the different classes of inhabit- 
ants of the city of Mexico vary considerably. The 
dresses of the Spaniards, and higher class of white 
natives, differ but httle from those worn in Europe. 
The men and boys often appear in the streets in the 
long cloak ; and in the house light jackets, of print- 
ed calico, are generally worn. 

" The dresses of the ladies, and even of children, 
in the streets, are universally black ; the head of the 
former is generally uncovered, or with only a slight 
veil thrown over it. They take great pains with their 
fine hair, and are particularly neat about the feet, 
the stocking being usually of fine silk. This is 
their morning appearance, in which they are seen 
going to or returning from church, to the duties 
of which they are very attentive. No well regulated 
family omits hearing mass every morning, mostly 
before breakfast. 

" The dress of the countiy gentlemen, or paysa- 
nas, is showy and expensive ; and, when mounted 
on their handsome and spirited little horses, they 
make an elegant appearance. The lower dress 
consists of embroidered breeches, chiefly of colour- 
ed leather, open at the knees, and ornamented with 
numbers of round silver buttons, and broad silver 
lace ; a worked shirt, with high collar ; and a short 
jacket, of printed calico, over which is generally 
thrown an elegant manga or cloak, of velvet, fine 
cloth, or fine figured cotton, the manufacture of the 
country : — these are often embroidered, or covered 
with a profusion of gold lace. 
17* 



198 MEXICAN DRESS AND CUSTOMS. 

" On the feet are soft leather shoes or boots, over 
which is tied a kind of gaiter, peculiar to the coun- 
try ; they are commonly of cinnamon-coloured lea- 
ther, wrapped round the leg, and tied with an orna- 
mental garter : these are a very expensive article, 
the leather being cut in relievo in a v:ariety of elegant 
patterns by the Indians, in the interior provinces, in 
a manner that it would be difficult to copy in Eu- 
rope. They are sold from eight to forty or fifty 
dollars the pair. 

" The stirrups and spurs correspond, in magnifi- 
cence and workmanship, with the boots. The 
hat is of various colours, large, and the crown 
[very flat and low, bound with broad gold or silver 
lace, and with a large round band, and fringe of the 
Isame. They are elegant, and well calculated to 
guard the sun from the head and shoulders. The 
decorations of the horses are also expensive ; the 
great Spanish saddle, wath its broad flaps, is richly 
embroidered with silk, gold and silver, and the high- 
raised front covered with the same metals. The 
stirrups are often of silver, but those of the lower 
classes are of wood. The bridle is small, with a 
very large and powerful bit, by means of which the 
riders suddenly stop their fine little liorses when at 
full speed. 

*' The dresses of the poorer classes and Indians 
vary in the different provinces. The mixed de- 
scendants of the Spaniards, in the capital, and in 
ToUuca, and other cities, have little more than a 
blanket, worn much in the fashion of the Roman 
toga ; whilst the garb of the Indian men consists of a 
straw hat, close jacket with short sleeves, of differ- 
ent dark-coloured coarse woollen or leather, and a 
short pair of breeches, open at the knees, also of 
leather, sometimes of the skin of goats, or of the 



VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 199 ; 

~ I 

peccarj, with the hair side outwards. Under this ■ 
are worn full calico tro.wsers, reaching to the middle ; 
of the leg, with sandals of leather on the feet, much \ 
in the form of the ancient Romans. The women s 
appear in little more than a petticoat and short i 
jacket, with their long raven-like tresses plaited on \ 
each side of the head with red tape ; clean in their ' 
appearance, and orderly and modest in their be- ; 
haviour. \ 

" Mules are universally preferred in this country 1 
for drawing carriages of every description, as well i 
as for transporting goods and for travelling long , 
journies, being stronger, and capable of enduring I 
more fatigue and privations than the horse. To the ■ 
carriages used by the nobility and gentry in Mexico | 
and the other principal cities, two handsome mules \ 
only are used, yoked with singularly elegant har- ; 
ness ; but the heavy clumsy travelling carriages on \ 
the public roads are usually drawn by eight or nine \ 
mules, and driven by two postillions. ; 

" The ordinary kinds are used for the conveyance ; 
of goods from Acapulco and Vera Cruz to the capi- \ 
tal, and it is not uncommon to meet a drove of near- i 
\y one thousand of them in company, laden with i 
bales of merchandise of two or three hundred weight, i 
Some of these muleteers are rich, and it is remark- | 
able that a robbery of them is scarcely ever heard I 
of" ' 

One of the principal vegetable products of Mexico j 
is the aloe. The leaves of the aloe form the roofs i 
of some of the Indian houses, and their fences ; ropes, \ 
thread, cloth, and paper, are also made from it ; and \ 
the root, prepared with sugar, is converted into i 
dulces or sweatmeats. \ 

The aloe affords a bitter drug which is used in ; 
medicine, but the Mexicans make another use of it, i 



200 MANUFACTORIES. 



After it has put forth its flower stalk from the centre 
of its leaves, they cut out the stalk and the leaves 
which surround it, thus leaving a cup as it were. 
The plant is exceedingly juicy, and the juice flows 
through the pores of the plant which" have been cut 
off*, and fills the cup. • This juice is taken out in 
large quantities, and suffered to ferment. It is then 
a spiritous liquor called Pulque, and drank by the 
Mexicans. 

Aloes have been measured, of which some of the 
leaves were ten feet long, fifteen inches wide, and 
eight thick, and their flower stalk twenty feet high. 
Abundance of the nopal, or large prickly pear, is 
found in the same soil which produces the aloe, and | 
may be seen in all the vegetable tracts from Yersi 
Cruz to Mexico. 



The manufactories of New Spain are inconsi- 
derable. While these countries were dependent 
upon Spain, the governors of that country, knew 
that a distant people, having a territory that afforded 
all which is required to make them comfortable, 
capable of manufacturing whatever they should re- 
quire, and carrying on trade with other nations, 
would not feel that they ought to be governed by the 
laws of Spain, or pay taxes to a foreign government ; 
and that they must soon be independent and govern 
themselves. 

Knowing this, the Spanish government forbade 
the colonies to import any goods from any country 
except Spain. Neither would they allow silk-worms 
to be reared, or flax to be cultivated, nor would they 
permit plantations of the grape and olive. The art 
of the gold and silversmith, and the manufacture of 
gold and silver lace were allowed, and a few woollen 
cloths were made in the country. The people em- 



STATE OF THE INDIAN PEASANTRY. 201 

ployed in these manufactories, were kept like pri- 
soners. Paper was not made, nor was there any 
mechanic sufficiently ingenious to construct a watch. 
At the present time, artisans from Europe go out to 
Spanish America ; and in time, the mechanic arts 
are likely to be practised in New Spain with skill 
and success. 

Schools for the common people are commenced, 
but they are not yet very general in Mexico. The 
children of the more wealthy citizens, are principally 
educated at home. There are some colleges of con- 
siderable reputation. So ignorant are the people 
generally, that there are persons called Evangelistas, 
or public letter-writers ; who, like those of Naples, 
sit in the public places, and dictate letters for those 
who apply to them. 



After we have read of the sufferings inflicted upon 
the Indians by their conquerors, it is pleasant to learn 
that the condition of their descendants is, perhaps, as 
happy as that of the peasantry of any civilized country; 
and that where they are justly treated, as in the south- 
ern parts of Mexico, they improve to a certain degree. 
A gentleman who was travelling, in 1823, from the 
city of ToUuca to the mines of Themascaltepec, 
describes some of the Indians whom he met on his 
way, and a village where he spent the night, thus : 

" We occasionally met little groups of Indians. 
From these simple people the unprotected traveller 
has nothing to fear ; they are the most courteous, 
gentle, and unoffending creatures in existence, never 
passing a stranger without offering a salutation. 

" In the midst of highly cultivated ground, rose 
the neat little Indian church and village of St. Mi- 
guel de los Ranchos, placed in one of the most de- 
lightful situations and lovely cUmates in the world. 



202 INDIAN CHURCH. 



On the mountain we might almost have complained 
of cold, but the descent had brought us into a tem- 
perature resembling the finest parts of Europe, and 
our approach to the village just before sun-set 
brought our native country strongly to our recollec- 
tion. The path lay through corn-fields, orchards, 
and gardens. Apples, pears, and peaches, almost 
obstructed our way ; and fields of potatoes and 
beans in blossom, might, but for the swarthy and 
thinly clothed inhabitants who gazed with surprise at 
our advance, and the luxuriance of the nopal, or the 
great American aloe, in full bloom, have made us 
fancy ourselves in England. 

" We rode up to the church, and on dismounting, 
presently found ourselves surrounded by numbers of 
men and boys, all eager to render us any assistance 
in their power. A small room adjoining this edifice, 
called the comuniad, provided by government for 
the reception of strangers, was pointed out to us as 
our residence for the night ; where having spread 
our mattresses on the floor, and given the Indians 
directions for the suppers of ourselves and horses, 
we walked out to examine the church. It was the 
eve of the feast of St. Mark, or, as the Indians who 
accompanied us called him, Nostras Boueno Amigo 
(our good friend.) 

" The church was gaudily ornamented with pic- 
tures and statues, and had that day been dressed 
with fruits, flowers, palm blossoms, &c., disposed 
in arches, chaplets, and a variety of other pretty 
devices, in honour of their patron saint. 

" Opposite the door, under a venerable cedar of 
great size, was a small temple and altar, decorated 
in a similar manner, with the addition of several 
human skulls, quite clean, and as white as ivory. 
Round the great tree some men were employed in 



VILLAGE FETE. 203 



splitting pieces of candle-wood, a species of pine 
which contains a considerable quantity of resm, and 
which, being lighted, burns with a clear flame like a 
candle. 

" I rambled through the village and the surround- 
ing plantations of the maguey or aloe : many of the 
plants were then producing the pulque. Night was 
approaching, and I hastened my pace, to reach our 
lodging, when the bell suddenly tolled in a quick man- 
ner, and in an instant the church-yard was brilliant- 
ly illuminated by the flame of eight piles of the 
candle-wood, prepared for the purpose, the effect of 
which was heightened by its being quite unexpected. 
On my entering the churchyard, four men discharged 
a flight of rockets, which was instantly answered by 
a similar salute from every house in the place : this 
was the commencement of the fete for the follow- 
ing day. 

*' In a quarter of an hour the bonfires were extin- 
guished, the church doors closed, and we retired 
to our place of rest to take the homely supper 
which had been prepared in the village. Our meal 
was scarcely finished when a messenger requested 
our speedy attendance in the church : on entering 
we found it illuminated, and crowded by numbers of 
persons of both sexes. Dancing, with singular 
Indian ceremonies, had commenced in front of the 
altar. The dancing was succeeded by a little pan- 
tomime, taken from the history of the conquest ; 
this was ' admirably performed.' 

*' We were still eighteen miles from the mine, at 
which it was desirable we should arrive early ; we 
therefore left the village before daybreak, some of 
the people having remained all night with our horses. 
They wished much to detain us, to see the conclu- 
sion of their fete, and I felt regret at not staying. 



204 MINES OF MEXICO. 

Our road lay through the numerous little farms be- 
longing to the town, which extends a considerable 
distance. All was silent as death, except the stream 
that ran through this peaceful vale ; and the moon 
shone without a cloud as we passed through the 
plantations and gardens of these happy children of 
nature, who here cultivate their native soil without 
the interruption of a single white face." 

The most remarkable production of Mexico is its 
silver. The mines are in different parts of the 
country, and afford some more, and others less, of 
that valuable article. Almost all the silver used in 
Europe and the United States, is brought from 
Mexico. The silver coin which we have in com- 
mon use, is made of the Mexican silver- 
Many of the mines are exhausted, some are filled 
with water, and some are unskilfully wrought, so 
that at the present time the Mexican mines are less 
productive than they formerly were ; still they af- 
ford large quantities of the precious metals. A few 
years ago an English gentleman being in Mexico, 
says, " in passing the great square of the city, I wit- 
nessed a sight not often seen by Europeans : — 
nearly a thousand horses and mules, laden with 
silver, were just preparing to start for Vera Cruz, 
where the silver was to be shipped on board an 
EngHsh frigate. Such a scene, when the mining 
operations are in activity, is a very common occur- 
rence." 

The Spaniards began to work the mines in 1545. 
When a person discovered a mine, the king of Spain 
made him a present of the tract of land in which the 
mine was, and the proprietor paid a certain part of 
the produce of the mine as a tax to the king. 
The Mexicans obtained their gold principally from 
the beds of torrents after the water had subsid- 



NORTHERN PROVINCES. 205 

ed. Cortez, in his letters, relates that he saw for 
sale, in the markets of Mexico, gold, silver, copper, 
lead, and tin. Humboldt says, that in about 1810, 
there were three thousand gold and silver mines in 
Mexico. The expense of working these mines is 
vast, and they are far less productive at present than 
in former times. In years of their greatest pros- 
perity, the mines afforded twenty-two millions of 
dollars in silver, and one million in gold. 

According to Humboldt, the mine of Valenceana 
is the richest in Mexico. The gold mine of Cosela, 
belonging to Signor Yriarte, is by some estimated 
to be the richest in the world. The owner does not 
work it to its greatest productiveness. It is pre- 
sumed it might afford ^£1,000,000 annually." But 
Signor Yriarte could not dispose of this immense 
revenue. He has now far more than he wants, and 
says his money is safest under ground. 



— ^hV^0 ^5 ®W***^- 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The account which has been given to you, of the 
towns, productions, manufactures, and peculiar man- 
ners, that prevail in New Spain, chiefly relates to the 
southern and middle provinces. The northern prov- 
inces are less known, but some recent travellers 
afford particulars of them, which serve to furnish a 
clearer view of the whole of the extensive country, 
commonly called Mexico. 

The province of Texas, which is separated in part 
from Louisiana, by the river Sabine, and which lies 
north of the gulf of Mexico, has a climate so agree- 
18 



206 YAaUI INDIANS. 

able, a soil so fertile, and harbors so convenient, as 
to afford all the means of comfortable subsistence, — 
necessaries of life easily produced, and commerce 
that may be pursued with every natural facility. 

I think proper to subjoin to the facts I have already 
given, a few which exhibit the Indians, and the Span- 
ish residents of the higher and lower classes in the 
northern provinces. 

It does not appear, that the Indians of New Mex- 
ico and the neighboring countries, are of a feeble 
character ; it is related that those who inhabit the 
island of Tiburon in the gulf of California, have re- 
sisted the Spaniards successfully. Because the Span- 
iards presumed that Tiburon contained gold, the 
Spanish government once sent a military force of a 
thousand men to subdue them, but the Spaniards 
were repulsed, and the Tiburones still possess the 
Island. 

The Yaqui Indians, and other tribes in the north, 
feeling themselves injured by the Mexican govern- 
ment, declared war against the white people, and for 
a long time kept the latter in great terror. In 1821, 
some Opata Indians were employed, in the revolu- 
tionary wars of the country ; they were forced to 
quit their plantations and their families, and after 
having performed a painful service in the army, were 
discharged without receiving any pay : they returned 
to their own territoiy in a destitute state, and found 
their children starving, and their fields overrun with 
weeds. 

Angry at the unworthy treatment they had re- 
ceived, the Opatas first committed some depreda- 
tions upon the white men in their vicinity, and then 
fortified themselves in a Httle town called Toniche. 
Here they were attacked by some government troops ; 
thirty Indians only. were within the fortification, 



HEROIC CONDUCT OiF AN INDIAN. 207 

and these resisted eight hundred soldiers for a day 
and a night : after a defence of twenty hours, these 
vahant savages, were surrounded and made pris- 
oners. Their conquerors showed no humanity to- 
wards them ; they were all cruelly shot, except, one ; 
this Opata was commanded to kneel down and pre- 
pare for death ; he obeyed, looking steadfastly in 
the face of the soldier who was ordered to shoot 
hira ; three times the gun employed for this purpose 
missed fire ; on the third failure, the Indian rising 
from the posture he had taken, turned solemnly to 
the commandant-general and said, " It does not 
please God that I should be shot !." He then walked 
off, and no attempt was made to detain him. 

As late as 1826, the province of Sonora was 
thrown into the greatest consternation by irruptions 
of the Yaqui Indians. Their leader Banderas was 
a man of a superior understanding, and great energy 
in conduct. The Mexican government thought to 
intimidate the Indians, by putting to death such of 
the rebels as they were called, as should be taken 
prisoners. This treatment was found to provoke 
the Indians still more. 

Certain Yaquis, as has been related, were taken, 
tried, and executed. Not long after, a number of 
Spaniards fell into the hands of Banderas, who caus- 
ed them to be executed hke his countrymen. Ban- 
deras wrote to the Spanish General an account of 
this transaction. His letter was in effect the follow- 
ing.' 

Your severity to my countrymen has obliged me 
to practise the same upon yours. I did it, not for 
the sake of revenge, but to convince the Spaniards 
that wrongs inflicted upon Indians shall be punished. 
We only follow the example of those who call them- 
selves Christians and civiUzed men, and we are not 



208 SPEECH OF A LEADER 

to be intimidated. Desist from your cruel policy- 
listen to our grievances. Make amends to us for 
what we have suffered. We shall be satisfied with 
justice, and you will have nothing to fear from us. 
This high-minded and patriotic Indian was sufficient- 
ly educated to write, but his honor and wisdom were 
not derived from instruction or books, they were 
dictated by an honest and exalted nature. 

Banderas kept in his possession a certain flag 
plucked from a church. He would exhibit this to 
his followers, and declare to them that it was one 
which had been taken from Montezuma by the 
treacherous Spaniards. Nor did the sight of this 
ensign fail to excite in the Indians a feeling of ab- 
horrence against the descendants of the conquerors. 

Upon a good map of Mexico two rivers near the 
27th parallel of latitude are delineated which empty 
into the Gulf of California. Of these the northern- 
most is the Yaqui, and the other is the Mayo. The 
banks of these rivers are occupied by the Yaqui, 
and Mayo Indians. 

The Yaquis were the first to rebel against the 
Mexican government. The Mayos adhered to the 
established power, and even promised the governor 
of the province to deliver up Banderas should he 
fall into their hands. Notwithstanding this declara- 
tion Banderas, not in the least daunted, paid a visit 
to the Mayos, and exhorted them to make themselves 
free from certain oppressions that were laid upon 
them. His speech concluded thus — 

" By the Congress the Indians are declared to be 
free citizens — but what are their privileges 1 Till 
we enjoy all the rights of white men, do not let us 
cease to demand them. By imitating the example 
of the Yaquis, the Mayos would have shown them- 
selves worthy descendants from the too-confiding 



OF THE YAQUI INDIANS. 209 

Montezuma. I have offered you a share in this 
grand enterprise, but in yovxr bosoms the spirit of 
your ancestors is extinct. . I hoped better things of 
you, but I deceived myself. Slavery has enfeebled 
your souls. You have disgraced your forefathers, 
and you will be the contempt of your sons' sons. I 
found you willing slaves, and slaves you must con- 
tinue." 

Such was the effect upon the Mayos of this speech 
that they rose at once, implored pardon of Banderas, 
and solicited his blessing. Banderas collected a 
force of about a thousand men, and these, armed with 
arrows, slings, and stones, dispersed themselves over 
the province of Sonora. The acquisition of pro- 
perty rather than the destruction of life was the ob- 
ject of Banderas ; and his followers plundered seve- 
ral places of gold, silver, jewels, merchandise and 
cattle. In one instance, goods valued at thirty thou- 
sand dollars were captured by this army. 

Banderas .continued this, hostility for two years, 
and for the most part with success. His followers 
at last crowned him emperor. The injuries of 
which the Yaquis complained were the imposition 
of taxes greater than they could pay, and being de- 
nied the privilege to send deputies to the general or 
state congresses, though they had been declared 
citizens. At length the government made an ac- 
commodation with them, pardoned Banderas, and 
they at present enjoy their possessions and privi- 
leges, as securely as any other of the citizens of a 
state, in which peace and civil order are far from 
being, established. 



The Yaqui Indians were so important as cuUiva- 
tors of the soil, that during their war with the pro- 
vince of Sonora, they could not supply the inhabit- 

18* 



210 REPLY OF THE INDIANS 

ants of that country with corn, and scarcity was felt 
even to California. 

The Tiburon Indians resemble the Patagonians 
of South America. They make garments of eagle 
skins sewed together, and wear them with the fea- 
thers inside. They draw their hair up into a knot, 
and paint their faces with black, yellow, and red. 

Some attempts have been made to establish Eu- 
ropean colonies on the banks of the Colorado, and 
two settlements were formed there, but these were 
soon destroyed by the Indians* The territory of 
this hostile tribe lies between the country of Sonora 
and that part of California which belongs to Mexico. 
The intercourse between California and Sonora is 
carried on across the gulf of California. A free 
passage over the Rio Colorado, through the adjacent 
country, would be convenient. The Mexican go- 
vernment applied, in the year 1803, to the Indians, 
for permission to establish a Christian settlement on 
the Colorado. They replied in the following terms : 

" There is among us no quarrelling or fighting for 
another man's property. We live contentedly 
among ourselves and respected by our neighbours, 
who know that as we are invincible in war we are 
courteous in peace. Our women take care of our chil- 
dren. Our sons are trained up with sentiments of 
courage and valour, and not of revenge, unless they 
are provoked to it by insult and injury from our 
enemies. Among Christians, how different ! They 
drink fire ; (a name which these Indians give to ar- 
dent spirits ;) they beat their families, and assas- 
sinate their brothers. They rob each other, and 
under the sign of the cross, they persecute the help- 
less and betray the strong. 

'' Their old men are unfit for counsel, as the fire 
which they drink makes them mad ; and among 



TO THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT. 211 

whatever Indian tribe they settle, as they say, to 
make them happy, they only stir up discord among 
the peaceful, and their captains are cruel tyrants. 

" How can we then suffer Christians to come 
among us ? We are happy already, and we wish 
to remain so. Our nation is disposed to be at peace 
with the white men, but our warriors have sworn 
that they shall not dwell among us." Reply of tke 
Caciques of the Rio Colorado to an emissary of 
government from Upper California, \SQ^. 

The poor tribes of California often sell their chil- 
dren to the Spaniards, and these children are bred 
with care and kindness by their employers. One of 
their children was once sold to an English gentle- 
man for a pocket handkerchief. The Indians of 
the Rio Colorado live upon fish, fruits, vegetables, 
and the seeds of grass. Their arms are bows, ar- 
rows, and lances, and a short wooden mallet. 

The Catholic priests were formerly so worship- 
ped by the Indians, that they would strive eagerly to 
kiss the cloak of the Santa Padre, or the track of 
his feet left in the soil. They would labour in his 
fields, the grounds of the convent, (a house inhabit- 
ed by friars) and would spend whole days in the 
woods pursuing game for his table. At present the 
Catholic priest, the Cura, as he is called, is not 
quite so much reverenced, and these priests com- 
plain that men of the present day are not so pious. 
as their ancestors. 



Some of the Spaniards in Mexico live in great 
comfort. A late English traveller in the province 
of Sonora, near the gulf of California, says that he 
passed a night at the Hacienda (farm) of Don 
Joaquin Astiazaran. " This person was sensible 
in his conversation, and gentlemanly in his manners. 



212 NEAT-HERDS IN THE 

Though he lives in great luxury, it is without pride 
or ostentation. His grounds are well laid out and 
well cultivated.- His library contains treatises upon 
agriculture. His garden displays no less taste than 
care. His trees are grafted, and their fruit is ex- 
cellent. His wife manages her family with skill 
and diligence. Their dairy produces good butter 
and cheese. They have a young and hopeful fami- 
ly, educated in the virtues of their parents, and af- 
fording an excellent example to those about them." 

Cattle form a considerable part of the Mexicans 
in the interior, and many of these graze in the 
woods, under the 'charge of a man who looks after 
them. A traveller having lost his way in the woods 
of Sonora, thus describes one of these neat-herds : 
" My mule having carried me about in the dark, I 
knew not whither, at length pricked up his eai's and 
quickened his pace. These were indications given 
by this sagacious animal that a human habitation 
was near. Presently I heard a dog bark, in a tone 
which spoke loudly, ' Who comes, here V and very 
soon we faintly discerned a rude hut, against the 
entrance of which the dog was posted. 

"Myself and my servant dismounted from our 
tired mules, entered the hut, struck a light, and find- 
ing the place without an inhabitant, we examined it. 
A beam ran across the room, from which hung a 
few tiger skins. On the ground stood a table and 
bench. On the table was a plate, and near it a jar 
of water. A small quantity of dried beef was all 
we could find fit to eat. This we were beginning to 
cook by a fire which one of the servants had kindled, 
when the low growling of the dog announced more 
company. Listening, we heard a horseman arrive, 
who alighted and entered. 

*' This man was the master of the hut. He was 



WOODS OF SONORA. 213 

surprised to find it occupied, and asked us who we 
were. He did not seem pleased at our intrusion. 
I told my servant to bring a bottle of spirits, offered 
the man of the house a draught, and related to him 
how we had lost our way, and stood in need of 
shelter. 

" Upon this the master of the hut, though a rough 
fellow, made us welcome, and in his turn related 
who he was. By the cheerful blaze of the wood 
fire, I could see that this man had a bold face, an 
active frame, and a piercing eye, and that an active 
life had given him health and vigor." ^ My busi- 
ness,' said he, ' is to rear cattle, and to hunt tigers 
and wolves, who would carry off my colts and calves 
if I did not keep a good look out. I never leave the 
wood except on Sundays and feast days. Then I 
go to Terapa to hear mass, get some drink, and 
come back to my hut to hunt wolves." 

His conversation then ran upon horses and cows, 
and the wolves and tigers that he had killed. He 
knew the hour of the day, he said, by looking at the 
sun, and that of the night by the stars. He knew 
nothing of revolutions and wars, and though he had 
heard of the Pope, he thought he lived in the city of 
Mexico. In this state of contented ignorance, with-, 
out any knowledge of books, or of the world, do 
.some men pass their lives in the forests of this country, , 



CHAPTER XIVo 

It has been my object in these Tales from Ameri- 
can History, to inform your minds of the succession 
of events, in relation to the discovery and settlement 



214 ENUMERATION OF DISCOVERIES. 

of the American continent, as well as of th& charac- 
ter and adventures of the men principally concerned 
in them. If I should here recapitulate some of the 
leading circumstances in their order, it might refresh 
your memories. 

In 1498, on the first of August, Columbus found 
himself at the mouth of the river Oronoco ; which 
convinced him, by the quantity of its water, that it 
flowed from a great continent, and thence he turned 
his course west, along the coast of Cumana, which 
may be seen on the map of South America, and is a 
part of the present republic of Colombia. Here he 
landed at certain places, and made himself acquaint- 
ed with the natives. Columbus would have explored 
the continent further, but the condition of his ships 
forced him, at that time, to proceed to Hispaniola. 

1500, Vincent Yanez Pinzon, discovered the 
mouth of the Amazon ; Alvarez Cabral, the Portu- 
guese navigator, discovered Brazil ; Roderigo de 
Bastidas, and Alonzo de Ojeda, explored the coun- 
try from Cape de la Vela to Darien. 

1512, Ponce de Leon discovered Florida. 

1513, Balboa crossed the isthmus of Darien, and 
discovered the Southern Ocean. 

1517, Hernandez Cordova discovered Yucatan 
and Campeachy. 

1518, Grijalva discovered New Spain. 

1520, Magellan passed the strait called by his 
name, and entered the Southern Ocean. 

1521, Mexico was taken, and New Spain was 
made a dependency of old Spain. 

1536, Cortez discovered California. 

It is also necessary to dwell a moment upon the 
history of Balboa, in order to recollect that that un- 
fortunate commander was informed of the existence 



VA8CO NUNEZ BALBOA. 215 

of Peru. Mr. Irving, in his Voyages of the Com- 
panions of Cokimbiis, says that the Indian who re- 
proved the Spaniards when they quarrelled about 
the division of some gold, was named Comagre. 
This young man was the eldest son of a cacique. 
" He was," says the historian, " of a lofty and gene- 
rous spirit, and distinguished above the rest by his 
superior intelligence and sagacity. He gave Balboa 
and his companion, Colmenares, 4000 ounces of 
gold, wrought into various ornaments," and other 
gifts besides. 

" The division of the gold took place in the porch 
of the dwelling of Comagre, in the presence of the 
youthful cacique who had made the gift. As the 
Spaniards were weighing it out, a violent quarrel 
arose among them as to the size and value of the 
pieces which fell to their respective shares. The 
high-minded savage was disgusted at this sordid 
brawl among beings whom he had regarded with 
such reverence. In the first impulse of his disdain, 
he struck the scales with his fist, and scattered 
the glittering gold about the porch. Before the 
strangers could recover from their astonishment at 
this sudden act, he thus addressed them, * Why 
should you quarrel for such a trifle ? If this gold 
is indeed so precious in your eyes, that for it alone 
you abandon your homes, invade the peaceful lands 
of others, and expose yourselves to such sufferings 
and perils, I will tell you of a region where you may 
gratify your wishes to the utmost. 

" ' Behold those lofty mountains,' continued he, 
pointing to the south ; ' beyond these lies a mighty 
sea, which may be discerned from their summit. It 
is navigated by people who have vessels almost as 
large as yours, and furnished, like them, with sails 
and oars. All the streams which flow down the 



216 VASCO NUNEZ BALBOA^ 



southern side of those mountains into that sea 
abound in gold ; and the kings who reign upon its 
borders, eat and drink out of golden vessels. Gold, 
in fact, is as plentiful and common among those 
people of the south as iron is among you Span- 
iards.' " . . 

After Balboa had crossed the isthmus, and while 
he remained on the shores of the Southern Ocean, 
he was a second time informed, " that the coast 
which he saw stretching to the west, continued on- 
wards without end, and that far to the south there 
was a country abounding in gold, where the in- 
habitants made use of quadrupeds to carry bur- 
thens." 

From this moment, Balboa set his heart upon ex- 
ploring this land of treasures, but you will remember 
that he was superseded in his government by Pedra- 
rias ; and that impolitic governor did all in his power 
to frustrate the designs of Balboa. That unfortu- 
nate man, however, at length obtained a commission 
from Spain, and put partly in execution, a project of 
further discoveries. 

Pedrarias, after Vasco Nuiiez Balboa (whom 
Mr. Irving calls Vasco Nunez) had received his 
commission, pretended to assist him, and authorised 
him to build vessels for his intended expedition upon 
the South Sea ; and a curious fact it is, that the ma- 
terials for the construction of these vessels, were 
conveyed overland from Careta, near the gulf of 
Darien, to the opposite coast, where they were to be 
fitted for sea. Of this toilsome and luckless enter- 
prize, the following account is given by Mr. Irving : 

" Vasco Nunez set to work to prepare the mate- 
rials of four brigantines that were to be launched 
into the South Sea. The timber was felled on the 
Atlantic seaboard ; and was then, with the anchors 



VASCO NUNEZ BALBOA. 217 

and rigging, transported across the lofty ridge of 
mountains to the opposite shores of the isthmus. 
Several Spaniards, thirty Negroes, and a great num- 
ber of Indians were employed for the purpose. They 
had no other roads but Indian paths, straggling 
through almost impervious forests, across torrents, 
and up rugged defiles, broken by rocks and preci- 
pices. In this way they toiled like ants up the 
mountains, with their ponderous burthens, under the 
scorching rays of a tropical sun. Many of the poor 
Indians sank by the way and perished under this 
stupendous task. 

" The Spaniards and Negroes, being of hardier 
constitutions, were better able to cope with the 
incredible hardships to which they were subject- 
ed. On the summit of the mountains a house 
had been provided for their temporary repose. 
After remaining here a little time to refresh them- 
selves and gain new strength, they renewed their 
labours, descending the opposite side of the moun- 
tains until they reached the navigable part of a 
river, which they called the Balsas, and which flow- 
ed into the Pacific." 

This work was prolonged by sundry interrup- 
tions, but all obstacles being surmounted, " the en- 
terprise was pressed with redoubled ardour, until 
at length, after a series of incredible toils and hard- 
ships, Vasco Nunez had the satisfaction to behold 
two of his brigantines floating on the river Balsas. 
As soon as they could be equipped for sea, he em- 
barked in them with as many Spaniards as they could 
carry ; and, issuing forth from the river, launched 
triumphantly on the great ocean he had discover- 
ed. We can readily imagine the exultation of this 
intrepid adventurer, and how amply he was repaid 
for all his sufferings, when he first spread a sail upon 
19 



218 VASCO NUNEZ BALBOA. 

that untraversed ocean, and felt that the range of an 
unknown world was open to him. 

" We know few instances, however, more striking 
than this piece-meal transportation, across the moun- 
tains of Darien, of the first European ships that 
ploughed the waves of the Pacific ; and we can readily 
excuse the boast of the old Castilian writers, when 
they exclaim, ' that none but Spaniards could ever 
have conceived or persisted in such an undertak- 
ing ; and no commander in the new world but Vasco 
Nunez could have conducted it to a successful 
issue." 

" The first cruise of Vasco Nunez was to the 
groupe of Pearl islands, on the principal one of 
which he disembarked the greater part of his crews, 
and despatched the brigantines to the main land to 
bring off the remainder. It was his intention to 
construct the other two vessels of his proposed squa- 
dron at this island. During the absence of the bri- 
gantines he ranged the island with his men, to collect 
provisions, and to estabhsh a complete sway over 
the natives. On the return of his vessels, and while 
preparations were making for the building of the 
others, he embarked with a hundred men, and de- 
parted on a reconnoitering cruise to the eastward, 
towards the region pointed out by the Indians as 
abounding in riches. 

" Having passed about twenty leagues beyond the 
Gulf of San Miguel, the mariners were filled with 
apprehension at beholding a great number of whales, 
which resembled a reef of rocks stretching far into 
the sea, and lashed by breakers. In an unknown 
ocean like this every unusual object is apt to in- 
spire alarm. The seamen feared to approach these 
fancied dangers in the dark ; Vasco Nuiiez anchor- 
ed, therefore, for the night, under a point of land, 



ARREST OP BALBOA. 219 

intending to continue in the same direction on the 
following day. When the morning dawned, how- 
ever, the wind had changed, and was contrary; 
whereupon he altered his course, and thus abandon- 
ed a cruise, which, if persevered in, might have ter- 
minated in the discovery of Peru !" 

An enemy of Vasco Nuilez, one Garabito, who 
was employed in this arduous enterprise, in order 
to revenge himself on account of an old provoca- 
tion, represented by letter to Pedrarias, that Balboa 
and certain of his companions had resolved to make 
themselves independent ; to establish themselves in 
some rich country they should find, and to deny their 
allegiance to the king of Castile. 

Upon receiving this false information, Pedrarias, 
under some pretence, recalled the accused persons. 
Having crossed the mountains in obedience to the 
summons of Pedrarias, Nunez was unexpectedly 
stopped, by a band of armed men, led by Francisco 
Pizarro. " The latter stepped forward to arrest his 
ancient commander. Vasco Nunez paused for a 
moment, and regarded him with a look of reproach- 
ful astonishment. * How is this, Francisco V ex- 
claimed he : * Is this the way you have been 
accustomed to receive me V Offering no further 
remonstrance, he suffered himself quietly to be taken 
prisoner by his former adherent, and conducted in 
chains to Ada. Here he was thrown into prison, 
and Bartolome Hurtado, once his favourite officer, 
was sent to take command of his squadron." 

To the charge of rebeUion, one of mal-administra- 
tion as former governor of the colony, was added, 
and iafter a mock trial, in which the innocent man 
vindicated himself in the most touching and dignified 
manner, sentence of death was pronounced upon 



220 EXECUTION OF BALBOA. 

him. The circumstances of the execution have 
been thus detailed. 

" It was a day of gloom and horror at Ada, when 
Vasco Nunez and his companions were led forth 
to execution. The populace were moved to tears 
at the unhappy fate of a man, whose gallant deeds 
had excited their admiration, and whose generous 
qualities had won their hearts. Such, however, was 
the general dread inspired by the severe measures of 
Pedrarias, that no one dared to lift up his voice, 
either in murmur or remonstrance. 

" The public crier walked before Vasco Nunez, 
proclaiming, * This is the punishment inflicted by 
command of the king and his Heutenant, Don Pedra- 
rias Davila, on this man, as a traitor and an usurper 
of the territories of the crown.' When Vasco Nunez 
heard these words, he exclaimed, indignantly, ' It is 
false ! never did such a crime enter my mind. I 
have ever served my king with truth and loyalty, 
and sought to augment his dominions.' These 
words were of no avail in his extremity, but they 
were fully believed by the populace. 

" The execution took place in the public square of 
Ada ; and we are assured by the historian Oviedo, 
who was in the colony at the time, that the cruel 
Pedrarias was a secret witness of the bloody specta- 
cle ; which he contemplated from between the reeds 
of the wall of a house, about twelve paces from the 
scaffold ! Vasco Nuiiez was the first to suffer death. 
Having confessed himself and partaken of the sacra- 
ment, he ascended the scaffold with a firm step and 
a calm and manly demeanour ; and, laying his head 
upon the block, it was severed in an instant from his 
body. Three of his officers, Valderrabano, Botello, 
and Hernan Muiios, were in Uke manner brought 



CONQUEST OP PERU. 221 

one by one to the block, and the day had nearly 
expired before the last of them was executed." 



CHAPTER XV. 

CONQUEST OF PERU. 

By the death of Balboa, the progress of discovery 
in South America was retarded. The mis-govern- 
ment of Pedrarias, and the unwholesome climate of 
Santa Maria, kept the colonists in distress, and they 
had too many troubles to disturb them, to allow them 
to think of much else. The site of Panama, was 
accounted a more desirable place than Darien, and 
thither Pedrarias and his colony removed. They 
were employed for some years in the construction 
of a new city, and in conquering the neighbouring 
Indians. 

In 1524, three extraordinary men who had set- 
tled with Pedrarias at Panama, renewed the neglect- 
ed project of the conquest of Peru. These remarka- 
ble persons were Francisco Pizarro, Diego Almagro, 
and Ferdinand de Luque. Pizarro was one of the 
men who accompanied Balboa in his first passage 
across the isthmus, and he was sent by Pedrarias 
on another expedition, under the conduct of an 
officer, called Gaspar Morales. He traversed that 
rude and dangerous tract a second time, by a shorter 
route than the former, and encountered unnumbered 
perils. In this expedition, Pizarro and his com- 
panions conquered several hostile chiefs, obtained a 
large quantity of beautiful pearls, and heard such 
19* 



222 FRANCISCO PIZARRO. 

alluring accounts of Peru, as effectually kindled 
ambition and avarice in their minds. 

A certain cacique on the sea coast, when he per- 
ceived of how much esteem pearls were among the 
Spaniards, ** took Morales and Pizarro to the sum- 
mit of a wooden tower, commanding an unbounded 
prospect. * Behold before you,' said he, * the infi- 
nite sea, which extends even beyond the sun-beams. 
As to these islands which lie to the right and left, 
they are ail subject to my sway. They possess but 
little gold, but the deep places of the sea around 
them are full of pearls. Continue to be my friends, 
and you shall have as many as you desire ; for I 
value your friendship more than pearls, and, as far 
as in me lies, will never forfeit it.' 

" He then pointed to the main land, where it 
stretched away towards the east, mountain beyond 
mountain, until the summit of the last faded in the 
distance, and was scarcely seen above the watery 
horizon. In that direction, he said, there lay a vast 
country of inexhaustible riches, inhabited by a 
mighty nation. He went on to repeat the vague 
but wonderful rumours which the Spaniards had fre- 
quently heard about the great kingdom of Peru. 
Pizarro listened greedily to his words, and while his 
eye followed the finger of the cacique, as it ranged 
along the line of shadowy coast, his daring mind 
kindled with the thought of seeking this golden em- 
pire beyond the waters." 

Pizarro was the son of a Spanish gentleman, but 
his mother was a very degraded woman ; and so 
much was the son neglected by his parents, that 
he was never taught to read, and passed his youth 
in the mean occupation of tending hogs. Pizarro, 
however, disdaining his employment, enlisted for a 
soldier. He first served in the army in Italy, and 



CHARACTER OP THE SPANISH LEADERS. 223 | 

afterwards embarked from Spain, with other adven- \ 

turers for the colony of Darien. He was every \ 

where distinguished for boldness, self-confidence, \ 
and ascendancy over the minds of others. 

Almagro was a foundling, and was endowed with \ 

the same courageous and persevering spirit as i 

Pizarro. Like Pizarro, he was a soldier, but he ; 

was the better man of the two. Almagro was gene- j 

rous and confiding, Pizarro was neither ; his pru- ! 

dence was degraded by cunning, his love of power \ 

was disgraced by the abuse of it, and he was cau- \ 

tious to conceal his own, while he possessed himself | 

of other men's plans and purposes. ; 

De Luque was a priest and a schoolmaster at ! 

Panama ; and unlike most other priests and school- i 

masters, was very rich. He furnished money for | 

Pizarro and Almagro to undertake the discovery ! 

which they meditated. Pizarro was the least wealthy j 

of the adventurers, and he agreed to take upon him- ■ 

self the hazardous part of the business. This was i 

the command of men who were to land at a suitable : 

place, penetrate into the country, subdue the natives, j 

and take possession of whatever they chose. \ 

Almagro was to command the second vessel, to ; 

follow Pizarro, and to bring out to him such soldiers, j 

provisions, and military stores as he might need, j 

De Luque was to remain at Panama, and provide j 

whatever should be necessary to his colleagues, I 
whenever they should make demands upon him. 

The empire of Peru, which Pizarro eventually ! 

conquered, extended from S'^ north latitude to 25^ ■ 

south, and lay along the Pacific ocean, west of the \ 

Andes. On the 14th of November, 1425, having ] 

obtained the consent of the governor, Pizarro set | 

sail in a small vessel, with one hundred and twelve ' 
men. The Spaniards were then ignorant that cer- 



224 DISASTERS OP THE SPANIARDS. 

tain winds unfavourable to voyages towards the 
south prevail between the tropics at that season. 

In consequence of the prevalence of these winds, 
Pizarro beat about for seventy days, and advanced 
no further than the coast opposite the Pearl islands, 
where he landed, in hopes that he might there find 
Almagro ; and in a short time he was joined by him. 
Almagro and seventy men, whom he had brought 
to join those under Pizarro, had landed at another 
place, and had suffered from a fatiguing march over 
the country, and their number was diminished by 
sickness, and by skirmishes with the Indians. 

Almagro encountered Pizarro and his little army 
accidentally, for they had not agreed to meet at this 
place, and heartily glad they were to see each other. 
They had numberless afflictions to recount, particu- 
larly the loss of many men ; and Almagro had been 
deprived of an eye by the wound of an arrow. In 
order to make up some of these losses, Almagro 
soon repaired to Panama, obtained fourscore men, 
and rejoined Pizarro. 

Again Pizarro and his forces trusted themselves 
to the ocean, and after a series of vexations, reach- 
ed the bay of St. Matthew, on the coast of Quito. 
Here they beheld a fertile country, and the natives 
clad in cotton garments, and adorned with trinkets 
of gold and silver. Pizarro, with his small arma- 
ment, dared not invade this populous country, so he 
withdrew to a neighbouring island, and despatched 
Almagro to Panama for reinforcements. 

Some of the adventurers with Pizarro, found 
means to convey such sad accounts of their suffer- 
ings to Panama, that recruits refused to embark 
with Almagro. Pedrarias had been superseded in 
his government by one Pedro de los Rios. The new 
governor forbade the departure of any of the colo- 



DETERMINED CONDUCT OP PIZARRO. 225 

nists upon the enterprize of Pizarro ; and, further- 
more, ordered that that commander should rehnquish 
his project and return to Panama. 

When Pizarro received the governor's mandate, 
he was nothing daunted, nor did he abandon his 
purpose. He communicated to his men the order 
of Rios, and exhorted them to despise it, and to per- 
severe in the grand undertaking in which they were 
embarked. As they stood round him in one sad 
groupe, meditating upon the course they would take, 
Pizarro taking his sword, drew a line upon the sand. 
" Such of you," said he, " as are heartless men, 
fearful only of failure, and blind to the prospect of 
glory and riches which lies before you, abandon 
your hopes ; depart from your leader ; return to 
Panama, poor and spiritless ; go to the condition of 
cowards, and to the contempt of the honorable." 

The calamities they had suffered closed their ears 
to remonstrance ; all except thirteen leaped over the 
line, and leaving Pizarro and his resolute adherents, 
returned to Panama. Any other man thus discoun- 
tenanced and deserted, would have abandoned a 
project so wholly unpromising. But Pizarro had 
nothing to lose and all to gain, and he possessed 
that energy of character with which Providence en- 
dows men who are destined to accomplish great ob- 
jects with small means. 

In despite of the governor's orders, Almagro 
again returned to Panama, and he and Luque inter- 
ceded so powerfully in behalf of their undertaking, 
that with the governor's consent a small force was 
raised and sent out to Pizarro. In the mean time 
Pizarro fixed his residence at an island until the de- 
sired help should be obtained. During five weary 
months, Pizarro and his companions waited at this 



226 PIZARRO EXPLORES THE COUNTRY. 

place for succours, and they were about to quit it in 
despair, when Almagro with his recruits arrived. 

When rehef came, hope came with it, and Pizarro 
and his men eagerly bore off to Peru, where they 
soon landed at a place called Tumbez, in latitude 
3" south. There was a palace of the Incas, the 
sovereigns of the country, and there the Spaniards 
first beheld the opulence and civilisation of the Pe- 
ruvians. There they saw people decently clad, do- 
mestic animals, and numerous articles of gold and 
silver. All this but served to fix the selfish and 
cruel designs which had engaged them in their en- 
terprise. 

Pizarro was suffered to explore the country with- 
out interruption. He cultivated the good will of 
the natives, and obtained from them vessels of gold 
and silver, and some of the lamas. He also at- 
tached to himself two young Peruvians, who were to 
be instructed in Spanish, and to serve as interpre- 
ters in his subsequent operations. With these spe- 
cimens of the productions of the ,newly discovered 
land he departed for Panama, where he arrived 
towards the end of the third year of his absence, 
having suffered in sundry forms, miseries which 
would have broken the spirit of any other man, but 
which only disciplined the vigorous Pizarro to firmer 
fortitude and more powerful exertions. 

Pizarro presumed he might now obtain aids from 
the colony, but his solicitations were vain. The 
governor could not believe that to send away his 
scanty population to a fatal climate, in which so 
many had fallen victims, could be a wise measure, 
so that he refused all assistance to Pizarro and his 
associates. These men, notwithstanding this vexa- 
tious opposition, felt their own importance, and de- 



HE REPAIRS TO SPAIN. 227 

termined to refer their enterprise to the patronage of 
the emperor Charles. 

They accordingly settled among themselves that 
Pizarro should be governor, Almagro the lieutenant- 
governor, and Luque bishop of the country which 
they designed to conquer. Pizarro, as soon as their 
plans were adjusted, repaired to the court of Spain. 

He was readily admitted to the emperor. It may 
be thought that a hogherd, and an unlettered soldier, 
could have little of the courtier in his address ; but 
a powerful mind conquers the disadvantages of neg- 
lected education. Thus it was with Pizarro. He 
described his sufferings and his services so feeling- 
ly, and so pompously set forth the country which he 
would add to the dominion of Spain, that Charles 
became interested in his success, and gave him per- 
mission, on certain terms, to prosecute his purpose. 

In his solicitations, the sellfishness of Pizarro was 
conspicuous. He asked for himself the station of 
civil and military commander-in-chief — for Luque, 
the ecclesiastical dignity which was agreed upon, 
but for Almagro he only requested the command of 
a small fortress, which should be erected. Charles 
conferred these privileges, together with a right to 
raise two hundred and fifty men, and to procure ships 
and warlike stores. Pizarro was to pay for these, 
and the crown of Castile was to accept the territory 
he should conquer, with all its treasures. It is but 
just to notice here, that Cortez being then in Spain, 
furnished Pizarro with money to advance his project. 

When this preparation was effected, Pizarro re- 
turned to Panama. Almagro, when informed of 
what he had done, was not well pleased to be ex- 
cluded from his portion of the honours of their pro- 
jected conquest ; but to appease him, Pizarro made 
him adelantado, the second in command, and with 



228 CHILDREN OF THE SUN. 

this concession the placable Almagro was satisfied. 
In February, 1530, Pizarro once more embarked 
for Peru, with one hundred and eight soldiers ; and 
being arrived there, was joined by two detachments 
of thirty men each from the province of Nicaragua, 
whither the news of the designs of Pizarro had tra- 
velled. The commanders of these allies were Her- 
nando do Soto, and Sebastian Benalcazar, officers 
of merit. 



The cruel ravages of the Spaniards in their dis- 
honorable warfare with the natives of the western 
continent, furnish far less interesting details than the 
detached history, either the fable or fact, which de- 
scribes the conquered people. 

When the Spaniards invaded Peru, the country 
called by that name extended in length fifteen hun- 
dred miles along the Southern Ocean. The natives 
as they then existed, were perhaps as far advanced 
in civilisation as the Mexicans. Yet according to 
their own tradition, at no very remote time the in- 
habitants of this region were rude and scattered 
tribes, ignorant of all the arts and comforts of life. 
The history they gave of their own improvement is 
the following. 

While the Peruvians were living in their primitive 
debasement, a majestic man and woman appeared 
among them on the borders of the lake Titicaca. 
These persons were neither naked nor clothed in 
the skins of beasts, but they were attired in woven 
garments, spoke the language of the country, and 
called themselves Children of the Sun. They were 
sent into the world by their beneficent parent to re- 
claim and instruct mankind, and they desired, above 
all things, to do good. 

These benevolent persons were listened to with 



THEIR WISE INSTITUTIONS. 229 

avidity, and many, attracted by their wisdom and 
kindness, followed them to a place where they rest- 
ed, and where they afterwards founded the city of 
Cuzco. The founders of Cuzco were Manco Ca- 
pac and Mama Ocollo. They despised idleness, 
and instructed those whom they collected around 
them to employ themselves usefully. The men they 
taught to plant the fields, and the women to spin and 
weave. The men were to provide food which sup- 
ports life, the women to make it comfortable by in- 
genuity and industry. 

Manco Capac declared it was right among men 
that the wise should rule, and that the ignorant must 
obey — that he was himself a god as well as a man, 
and being sent into the world by his father, the Sun, 
he expected to govern his subjects. Obedience to 
the authority of a monarch so gracious was a happy 
subjection, and of those who came to Cuzco, or who 
took up their abode near it, the number was con- 
stantly augmented. 

The race of sovereigns that descended from 
Manco Capac were the Incas, or Lords of Peru, 
and as long as their power continued, they were not 
only honoured as kings, but revered as gods. This 
sacred family never intermarried with mere mortals. 
The children of Manco Capac, brothers and sisters,, 
and their descendants afterwards, married together, 
and with no other family. The Incas and their 
families wore a dress peculiar to themselves, and it 
was forbidden by the laws that any other person 
should assume the fashion of it. 

The character of the Incas was that of peace- 
makers. In 1526, when Pizarro first visited Peru, 
Huana Capac was the reigning Inca. He was the 
twelfth in descent from Manco Capac. He govern- 
ed his people at\er the manner of his ancestors ; but, 
20 



230 CIVIL WARS OF THE INCAS. \ 

unlike them, the desire of enlarging his dominions j \ 
entered his heart. The whole country had nevei r ; 
been subject to the Children of the Sun, and omj 
some pretence Huana Capac made war on the king; J 
of Quito, and conquered that valuable province. Hes | 
sometimes resided in Quito, and contrary to the cus-. | 
torn of the Incas, married the former king's daughter. ! 

Huana Capac had two sons, Huascar and Ata- \ 
hualpa. The father died in 1529. Huascar was \ 
the son of a princess of the race of the Incas. Ata- ! 
hualpa was the son of the princess of Quito. Hua- i 
na, at his death, divided his dominions between his i 
two sons. Much as the Peruvians honoured Hua- j 
na Capac, they were dissatisfied that a prince of i 
mixed blood should divide the inheritance of the \ 
Incas. Huascar demanded to reign over the whole 1 
country subject to his father, and Atahualpa equally j 
insisted upon the right he possessed to retain the \ 
gift of his parent. i 

In consequence of these discords, a bloody civii j 
war broke out, which was raging when Pizarro en- ] 
tered the distracted kingdom, in 1530. In this con- ■ 
flict Atahualpa had prevailed, and held his brother ■ 
Huascar a prisoner. The strife which occupied i 
Atahualpa prevented him from taking notice of the I 
Spaniards, who entered the country and made them- j 
selves masters wherever they came, though Pizarro | 
proceeded so cautiously that the natives were doubt- i 
ful whether the Spaniards were gods or men, or | 
whether they came as friends or foes. Huascar i 
hearing in his durance of these strange visitors, sent 
to Pizarro and entreated his assistance, that he might ' 
recover his kingdom. 

Pizarro, who was perfectly regardless of the rights ! 
of the brothers, thought it advisable to attack the i 
more powerful prince ; and learning that Atahualpa ! 



SPLENDOUR OP THE PERUVIAN CAMP. 231 

was at Caxamalca, in the interior, about twelve days 
march from the coast, having established a garrison 
to which he might retire if need should be, proceed- 
ed to the camp of that prince. As he passed through 
the country, he announced every where that he was 
the ambassador of a powerful monarch, who had 
sent him to the king of Peru to offer him important 
services. In this character Pizarro was no where 
hindered in his progress, and was at length favor- 
ably received by Atahualpa himself. 



CHAPTER XVI, 

On entering Caxamalca, the Spaniards learned 
that the camp of Atahualpa was three miles distant 
from that place. Pizarro was permitted to es- 
tabhsh himself as he liked, and he took possession 
of a large court between a Temple of the Sun and a 
building called the Inca's Palace. He next sent 
his brother, Ferdinand Pizarro, and Hernando Soto 
to the camp, to solicit an interview with the Inca, 
and to explain the pacific intentions of the Spaniards 
in visiting the country. 

Atahualpa treated the messengers of Pizarro with 
becoming respect, and promised that on the ensuing 
day he would pay a visit to Pizarro in his quarters. 
The silver and gold which was displayed in the Pe- 
ruvian camp in a multitude of utensils and orna- 
ments, served to stimulate the rapacity of the Span- 
ish officers, and they returned to Pizarro with such 
a description of the riches they had seen, as deter- 
mined that unprincipled man immediately to seize 



232 TREACHEROUS CONDUCT OF PIZARRO 

the king's person, and possess himself of his trea- 
sures. 

Expecting Atahualpa, Pizarro the next day di- 
vided his forces into three squadrons, severally un- 
der the command of Ferdinand Pizarro, Soto, and 
Benalcazar, reserving twenty men of tried courage 
near his own person. All these were commanded 
to remain within the square, and not to move till a 
signal should be given them. 

After some delay, caused by the splendid pre- 
parations which he deemed suitable to the occasion, 
the Inca approached the fatal spot where his be- 
trayers awaited his coming. " First of all appeared 
four hundred men, in a uniform dress, as harbingers 
to clear the way before him. He himself, sitting on 
a throne or couch, adorned with plumes of various 
colours, and almost covered with plates of gold and 
silver, enriched with precious stones, was carried 
on the shoulders of his principal attendants. Be- 
hind him came some chief officers of his court, car- 
ried in the same manner. Several bands of singers 
and dancers accompanied this cavalcade, and the 
whole plain was covered with troops, amounting to 
more than thirty thousand men." 

As the Inca drew near the Spanish quarters, 
Father Valverde, the chaplain of the expedition, ad- 
vanced to meet him, with a crucifix in one hand and 
a breviary (prayer-book) in the other. Having dis- 
played these ensigns, he began a long discourse, 
commanding Atahualpa to embrace the Christian 
faith, to receive the authority of the Pope, and to 
acknowledge himself subject to the king of Castile. 
And the chaplain concluded by declaring that if the 
Inca refused to admit all that he had proclaimed, 
the king of Spain would inflict upon him the severest 
pvmishment. 



TOWARDS ATAHUALPA. 233 

This absurd speech, uttered in Spanish, was bad- 
ly interpreted to Atahualpa, but it was made suf- 
ficiently plain to fill him with astonishment and in- 
dignation. His reply, however, was temperate and 
dignified. *' I am lord," said he, " of this country. 
These, my faithful subjects, submit to my authority 
and maintain it. They are the children of my care, 
and the defenders of my rights. My fathers ruled 
here before me. I sit upon the throne of the Incas, 
and they transmitted their authority to me. 

" Does any man say that our ancient dominion is 
his ? Does any priest upon earth declare that he can 
bestow this inheritance upon another, and dispos- 
sess its indisputable owner 1 I deny his authority, 
I despise his presumption, and I hold fast the power 
which is mine, and not another's. You demand of 
me to surrender my kingdom, and what is more au- 
dacious still, you require me to forsake the worship 
of the glorious Sun, and to receive your god, whom 
I have never known. Know you, I revere my reli- 
gion too much to depart from it, and I love my peo- 
ple too well to give them to another master. I do 
not comprehend all that you have said, and I know 
not where you can have learned such incomprehen- 
sible things." 

" In this book," answered Valverde, reaching out 
to him his breviary. The Inca opened it eagerly, 
and turning over the leaves, lifted it to his ear ; — 
" This," said he, " is silent, it tells me nothing ;" 
and he threw it with disdain to the ground. The 
enraged monk, running towards his countrymen, 
cried out, *' To arms, Christians, to amis ; the word 
of God is insulted ; avenge this profanation on those 
impious dogs." 

During this conference, Pizarro found it dif- 
ficult to restrain the impatience of the soldiers. 
20* 



234 ATAHUALPA MADE PRISONER, 

The gold and silver which glittered on every side 
served to whet their rapacity, and they exulted in 
the signal of assault, which followed the last words 
of the treacherous and hypocritical Valverde. At 
once the martial music of the Spaniards struck up, 
the cannon and musquets beg^an to fire ; the horses 
salhed out fiercely to the charge, and the infantry 
rushed upon the defenceless Peruvians, sword in 
hand. 

The Peruvians being wholly unaware of danger, 
were confounded with these terrible exhibitions of 
destructiveness, and in their dismay fled in every 
direction, neither attempting to annoy the enemy or 
to defend themselves. But with many of the dis- 
tracted people, love for their Inca prevailed over 
every selfish consideration. They surrounded his 
person, and permitted themselves to be killed rather 
than suffer the Spaniards to approach him. 

Pizarro had set his heart upon seizing Atahualpa 
with his own hands, and regardless of the devoted 
and frantic natives that surrounded him, penetrated 
to his seat, snatched his arm, and made him prison- 
er. This was not enough. The Spaniards pur- 
sued the unresisting Peruvians with unheard-of bar- 
barity, nor did the carnage cease till night. Above 
four thousand natives were killed, and not one 
Spaniard. Pizarro only received a slight wound 
from one of his own soldiers, as he was seizing the 
person of the Inca. 



At first the captive Inca could hardly believe that 
he had become a captive, and Pizarro treated him 
with some respect. Atahualpa soon discovered that 
gold was the principal object of desire in the Span- 
iards, and to procure his liberty he offered to give 
them as many vessels of that precious metal as 



IMMENSE SUMS GIVEN FOR ftiS RANSOM. 235 1 



might be contained in the roorfi where he was im- 
prisoned ; and he gave orders that contributions for 
his ransom should be brought from the most distant 
provinces of the empire. 

Glad to recover their beloved monarch upon any 
terms, the subjects of Atahualpa contributed the or- 
naments of their persons, and offerings from their tem- 
ples, as well as useful vessels of their houses, to pur- 
chase his liberty. At length the stipulated quantity 
was brought in. 

Pizarro gave orders that the whole should be 
melted down, and the amount, according to Dr. 
Robertson, was nearly nine and a half millions of 
dollars. One fifth was reserved for the king, and 
the remainder was divided among Pizarro and his 
men, besides a donative bestowed upon a detach- 
ment which had arrived with Almagro subsequently 
to the imprisonment of the Inca. 

Some of the followers of Pizarro were so enrich- 
ed by their share of the spoil, that they petitioned to 
be discharged from the service ; and Pizarro, aware 
that men who are rich, and who have nothing more 
to desire or to exert themselves for, are not service- 
able in projects of violence and hazard, thought it 
best that they should return to Spain with his brother 
Ferdinand, whom he sent to the emperor with gold 
and an account of his splendid success. 

Some of the most atrocious acts recorded in the 
history of the Spanish conquests, remain to be re- 
lated. One of the most infamous was the perfidy 
of Pizarro, who refused to relinquish the person of 
Atahualpa, after he had obtained his ransom, and 
another still more revolting to humanity, the violent 
death of the Inca. 

After Atahualpa was made prisoner, it occurred 
to him that his brother Huascar might now ofler 



236 IGNORANCE OF PIZARRO. 

great treasures to the Spaniards, on condition that 
they would espouse his cause, and that they might 
take his life in order to gratify Huascar. To pre- 
vent this, he gave orders that his brother should be 
assassinated, and the order was obeyed. This un- 
worthy act was afterwards made use of by Pizarro 
in the destruction of Atahualpa. 

Pizarro soon grew weary of his prisoner, and 
sought occasion to remove him. It is said that Pi- 
zarro's ill-will towards the Inca was increased by 
the contempt with which the latter regarded his illi- 
terateness. Atahualpa was often entertained and 
comforted in his affliction by the society of Ferdi- 
nand Pizarro, and de Soto, and he was disturbed by 
the presence of the governor. Of the accomplish- 
ments of the Europeans, none seemed to him so 
beautiful and wonderful as reading and writing. 

The Inca once asked a soldier who guarded him, 
to write the name of God upon his thumb nail. The 
man accordingly wrote " Dios," and when the Inca 
showed the characters, the persons who saw it seve- 
rally knew the word and pronounced it. At length 
Atahualpa showed it to Pizarro, but he could not 
read, and was forced to acknowledge his ignorance. 
From that moment the Inca considered his tyrant a 
mean person, and made him understand that he did 
so. 

Pizarro resolved to destroy Atahualpa, but he 
pretended to call a court of justice and to try the 
unhappy Inca upon certain charges. The first was 
his usurpation as Inca, the second the assassination 
of Huascar, which Atahualpa had instigated ; the 
others were not worth mentioning, but they served 
the infamous judges with pretences to condemn the 
prisoner. He was found guilty and sentenced to be 
burnt alive. But he was promised by Father Val- 



DEATH OF ATAHUALPA. 237 

verde, if he would consent to be baptised, that a less 
cruel death should be inflicted on him, and after he 
had received baptism he was strangled instead of 
being burnt. 

Atahualpa had entreated with tears that the sen- 
tence passed upon him might be referred to the em- 
peror. " But pity never touched the hard heart of 
Pizarro," and he would not relent. Notwithstand- 
ing his unfeeling conduct to Atahualpa, Pizarro pre- 
tended to continue the ancient government, and af- 
ter the death of the Inca, put his son in his place. 
Many of the Peruvians rather chose Manco Capac, 
a brother of Huascar, and the civil discord between 
these parties, enabled the Spaniards to make them- 
selves completely their masters. 

In 1533, Pizarro took Cuzco, and the ravaging of 
that city having afforded more gold to the greedy 
conquerors, the wealth of Peru was noised abroad, 
not only over all the Spanish settlements, but 
throughout Spain, so that adventurers from those 
different parts flocked to this land of promise to 
despoil the natives, and divide the prey. 

Notwithstanding that he was the first adventurer, 
and hesitated at no conduct, however base, to secure 
what he gained, Pizarro had no great chance to ob- 
tain undivided authority. Other officers, not less 
ambitious, had the same desire of preeminence and 
the same love of gold, though many engaged at that 
time in Peru possessed better moral qualities, a 
higher sense of honour, and sentiments of humanity. 

When Ferdinand Pizarro was sent to Spain, with 
intelligence of the Spanish exploits in Peru, honor- 
able mention was made of Almagro, and he received 
a grant of six hundred miles of the coast south of 
the jurisdiction of Pizarro, the country now known 
as Chili. Pizarro and Almagro hated each other. 



238 DISPUTES OF PIZARRO AND ALMAGRO. 

Pizarro, because he had injured Almagro-— Alma- 
gro, because he had suffered wrong. 

Almagro asserted that the limit of the emperor's 
grant included Cuzco ; Pizarro declared that it be- 
longed to him, and they would have set their armies 
against each other, but Almagro was persuaded to 
give up his claim and prosecute the discovery of 
ChiH. 

Having made a short-lived peace with his adver- 
sary, Pizarro applied himself in his capacity of go- 
vernor, to plans of legislation ; dividing the country 
into districts, appointing magistrates, and making 
other salutary regulations. His most remarkable 
act at this period was laying the foundation of Lima, 
in 1535. This city, six miles from Callao on the 
coast, still exists, and is populous. 

The prince whom Pizarro had placed on the 
throne of the Incas was dead, and Manco Capac 
held the supreme dignity in its present degraded 
state. This prince, perceiving that the Spaniards 
felt secure in their possessions, and that their forces 
were detached in sundry places, undertook to escape 
from the guard set over him in Cuzco, and to extir- 
pate the oppressors. This war was conducted with 
greater ability than the Peruvians had yet exhibited, 
but it ended like the rest of those contests, in which 
skill must prevail over force. 

Manco Capac, however, resolutely endeavoured 
to possess himself of his capital, and the city was 
defended by the three brothers of the governor. 
One of whom, Juan Pizarro, the best beloved of the 
three, was killed in one of the battles. At this 
juncture, Almagro, disheartened in his expedition 
to Chili, returned to Cuzco, which he had determin- 
ed to take, as included in the emperor's grant. The 
Inca regarded him as a friend and deliverer, and 



EXECUTION OF ALMAGRO. 239 

asked his aid : a strong party of Spaniards were 
also in his favour, but the Pizarros resisted him, 
and in a final battle, fought 1538, Almagro was de- 
feated, made prisoner, tried, sentenced to death, and 
executed. 

Almagro had reached the advanced age of seven- 
ty-five years, and when the cruel sentence of death 
was passed upon him, he expostulated in the most 
feeling manner with the Pizarros. He conjured 
them to remember the friendship which had united 
him to their brother, the important services he had 
rendered in the conquest of the rich country of 
which they had obtained possession, and the disin- 
terested use he had made of opportunities to enrich 
himself. Almagro was beloved by his soldiers and 
his friends, and they were exceedingly afflicted at 
h's fate. 

Many an unfeeling heart was melted, and many 
stern eyes wept at sight of the unfortunate veteran 
become a suppliant to such obdurate men. The 
Pizarros alone were inflexible : and, as has been 
told, Almagro suffered death at their hands : but 
retribution was in store for them. Divine provi- 
dence may permit the violent and the inhuman to 
prosper for a season, but vengeance long delayed 
does not slumber. God forgets not any of their 
works, his eyes are upon them for evil and not for 
good, he turns their mirth to mourning, and their 
glory to shame ; and the end of their pride and 
cruelty, is to die without pity and without hope ; as 
may be illustrated in the concluding history of Fran- 
cis Pizarro and his hard-hearted brothers. 



After the death of Almagro, the governor consi- 
dered himself sole disposer of all the Peruvian 
territory. The Spanish ofiicer, Benalcazar, had 



240 ENTERPRIZES OF GONZALO PIZARRO 

conquered the province of Quito, but Pizarro dis- 
possessed him of it, and appointed his brother 
Gonzalo Pizarro to be governor; indeed, he par- 
celled out the territory of the conquered countries, 
as if it were his own, giving it to his brothers, his 
adherents and favourites, without regard to merit. 
The friends of Almagro saw and felt Pizarro's in- 
justice, and laid up purposes of revenge in their 
hearts. 

Pizarro was not satisfied with the extent of his 
conquests. Under one of his officers, Pedro de 
Valdivia, Chili was explored, and the city of St. Jago 
founded. But one of the most remarkable enter- 
prises commenced under the authority of the gover- 
nor, was that of Gonzalo Pizarro, who set out from 
Quito with three hundred and forty Spaniards, and 
four thousand Indians, to explore the country east 
of the Andes. This expedition was infinitely toil- 
some, and many lives were lost in it. 

Though nothing valuable was obtained in the pro- 
gress of these adventures, they struggled on in 
despite of their difficulties and discouragements, till 
they reached one of the branches of the great river 
Maragnon. This branch, the Napo, was a large 
river, and Gonzalo proposed to Francis Orellano, 
one of his officers, to proceed along this stream 
with fifty men in a bark, which he caused to be con- 
structed, while the rest of the company should pro- 
ceed along the borders. 

Orellano was delighted with this plan, and readily 
undertook to execute it. The current of the river 
was rapid, and soon bore him far beyond his fellow 
soldiers. As soon as he found himself prosperously 
carried along, he conceived that by following the 
course of the river, he might arrive at realms of 
greater riches and beauty, than any yet known to his 



AND OF ORELLANO. 24i 

cx untrymen, and that his fame and his fortune might 
surpass that of Cortez or Pizarro. 

Committing himself fearlessly to the stream, 
Orellano ventured upon a navigation, which in the 
multitude of its involutions, continued six thousand 
miles, through the whole course of the great channel 
of the Maragnon, till it terminated in the Atlantic. 
The dangers and distresses of this voyage, enhanced 
the glory of it ; and when Orellano, regardless of the 
associates whom he had left in the wilderness, re- 
turned to Spain, he gave a marvellous account of it. 

He pretended to have discovered nations so rich» 
that the roofs of their temples were covered witb 
gol(^ : and he described a republic of women, sc 
warlike and powerful, that their dominion extended 
over much of the great tract he had passed through. 
This expedition is not of much importance, except 
as it demonstrated the extent and course of the 
Maragnon ; sometimes called the river of the Ama- 
zons, from the fabulous notion of the female empire 
on its borders, and for a delusion which grew out 
of it. 

The city which Orellano pretended to have dis- 
covered, was called El Dorado — the golden — and 
many credulous persons believed in its existence, 
and went in search of it ; and the name of El Do- 
rado, became a proverb to express some specious 
object, in order to pursue which, men leave really 
valuable possessions, and find themselves deceived 
and disappointed in the end. 

When Gonzalo Pizarro learned that he was aban- 
doned by the detachment of Orellano, his followers 
refused to proceed, and though he was twelve hun- 
dred miles from Quito, he was forced to march back 
frustrated and disspirited, over that desolate region. 
The miseries encountered in the return to Quito, 
21 



242 CONSPIRACY OF ALMAGRO, 

were infinitely greater than those endured in the out- 
ward progress. Four thousand Indians, and two 
hundred and ten Spaniards, perished in this disas- 
trous expedition, which continued nearly two years ; 
and only fourscore got back to Quito. 

Other and greater misfortunes awaited Pizarro on 
his return. Almagro had left a son at Lima. That 
young gentleman was educated at his father's re- 
quest by Juan de Herrada, a Spanish officer of great 
merit, and he was taught all the accomplishments of 
the age. The generous disposition of young Alma- 
gro, engaged the affections of his father's friends, and 
they believed they had found in him a leader w .rthy 
to punish the hated Pizarro. 

Young Almagro was easily persuaded to head a 
party, and to aim at the life of his father's enemy, 
who lived in fancied security in the midst oi i*'^ f^es. 
The manner in which the death of Pizarrr was 
achieved, is thus described by Dr. Robertson. 

" On Sunday, the 26th of June, 1541, at mid-day 
the season of repose in all sultry climates, Herrada, 
at the head of eighteen of the most determined con- 
spirators, sallied out of Almagro's house in complete 
armour ; and drawing their swords, as they advanced 
hastily towards the governor's palace, cried out 
* Long live the king, but tet the tyrant die !' Their 
associates were in arms at different stations, read/ 
to support them. Though Pizarro was usually sur- 
rounded by such a train of attendants as suited the 
magnificence of the most opulent subject of the age 
in which he lived, yet as he was just risen from table, 
and most of his domestics had retired, the conspira- 
tors passed through the two outer courts of the palace 
unobserved. 

" They were at the bottom of the staircase, before 
a page in waiting could give the alarm to his master 



AND DEATH OF PIZARRO. 243 

who was conversing with a few friends in a large 
hall. The governor, whom no danger could appal, 
starting up, called for arms, and commanded Fran- 
cisco de Chaves to make fast the door. But that 
officer, who did not retain so much presence of mind 
as to obey this order, running to the top of the stair- 
case, wildly asked the conspirators what they meant, 
and whither they were going 1 Instead of answering, 
they stabbed him to the heart, and burst into the hall. 
The conspirators, animated with having the object 
of their vengeance now in view, rushed forward. Pi- 
zarro, with no other arms than his sword and buckler, 
supported by his half brother Alcantara, and his little 
knot of friends, maintained the unequal contest with 
intrepidity worthy of his past exploits, and with the 
vigour of a youthful combatant. 

" * Courage,' cried he, * companions, we are yet 
enough to make those traitors repent of their auda- 
city.' But the armour of the conspirators protected 
them : Alcantara fell dead at his brother's feet; his 
other defenders were mortally wounded. The gover- 
nor, no longer able to parry the many weapons furi- 
ously aimed at him, received a deadly thrust full in 
his throat, sunk to the ground, and expired. 

" As soon as he was slain, the assassins ran out 
into the streets, and waving their bloody swords, 
proclaimed the death of the tyrant. Above two 
hundred of their associates having joined them, they 
conducted young Almagro in solemn procession 
through the city, and assembling the magistrates 
and principal citizens, compelled them to acknow- 
ledge him as lawful successor to his father in his 
govef nment. The palace of Pizarro, together with 
the houses of several of his adherents, were pillaged 
by the soldiers, who had the satisfaction at once of 
being avenged on their enemies, and of enriching 



4 



244 PEDRO DE LA GASCA. 

themselves by the spoils of those through whose 
hands all the wealth of Peru had passed." 



Information was received in Spain, of course, of all 
the confusion which prevailed in Peru ; nor was 
the emperor regardless of remedies for those evils. 
The civil discord which raged in Peru, the want of 
law and order, the oppressions which were practised 
upon the natives, induced him, with proper counsel, 
to prepare a body of laws for the settlers, which 
were just and equitable in many articles. Under 
the government of Pizarro, and after his death, a 
viceroy and other magistrates were sent out from 
Spain, to carry the laws into effect. 

The adventurers already established, received the 
magistrates and the new laws with aversion and op- 
position. Gonzalo Pizarro, by the advice of a mili- 
tary officer named Cavarjal, set up open rebellion to 
the viceroy. He afterwards defeated the first vice- 
roy, Blasco Nugnez Vela, assumed the government 
himself, and sent out to Spain, to be established by 
the emperor in his usurpation. 

The emperor was at that time in Germany, but 
his son Philip and his ministers, acted with the royal 
authority, and when they learned the excess of out- 
rage with which the settlers received the appoint- 
ments of the crown, they conceived it would be the 
best possible measure, to send out a man of abilities 
as a pacificator of grievances. 

The person to whom this trust was committed, 
was Pedro de la Gasca, a priest. After reading 
through many pages of a long series of crimes, and 
meeting in the sad detail, with no single exception 
to the general character of selfishness, oppressive- 
ness and extortion, it is delightful to close the mel- 
O-ncholy narrative with the display of christian vir- 



HIS EXEMPLARY CONDUCT. 245 

tues ; with the exhibition of a wise and good man 
conquering other men, not by arms, but by persua- 
sion ; not by fear, but by reason ; not by mere in- 
fluence of worldly policy, but by the principles of mu- 
tual forgiveness, forbearance, and self-government. 

Such a man was Pedro de la Gasca, and such 
were his principles, joined to firmness of purpose, 
vigour in action, a remarkable simplicity of manners, 
and the utmost disinterestedness. Gasca was an 
old man, and had never been^ut of Spain, but his 
character was such, that the Spanish ministers dis- 
regarded his infirmities, and with the Emperor's ap- 
probation, appointed him to go out to Peru, to settle 
the disturbances that existed there in 1546. 

The only title which Gasco would accept, was 
that of President of the Court of Audience in Lima ; 
and the only recompense was the support of his 
family in his absence. He would go like a minister 
of peace, with his gown and breviary, and with no 
other retinue than a few domestics. But he re- 
quired absolute power to order and to act ; to 
punish, to pardon, to reward, where he should think 
proper, to levy troops, and to call upon all governors 
of provinces to assist him. 

All this was granted, and with legal authority, in 
virtue of a royal commission, Gasca with no other 
title to respect than his function, and the dignity of 
his deportment, entered Nobre de Dios. Herman 
Mexia, with some troops, posted there by order of 
Gonzalo Pizarro, to oppose the landing of any per- 
son hostile to his government, did not prevent his 
coming on shore. *' I am sent hither by our sove- 
reign," said Gasca, " as a messenger of peace, not 
a minister of vengeance. I have come to redress 
grievances, and to establish justice." 

The mildness of his demeanor, and the purity of 



246 DEATH OF GONZALO PIZARRO. 

his purposes, obtained the confidence of all, and when 
he took up his residence for a short time at Panama, 
he was treated with the highest respect. Hinojosa, 
the commander of the fleet under Pizarro, at Pana- 
ma, and other officers of distinction, went imme- 
diately over to the President's interest, and offered 
to support his authority. 

Pizarro was enraged beyond measure when he 
learned the extent of Gasca's commission. He re- 
solved upon hindering his entrance into Peru, sent 
him an injunction to return to Spain, and moreover 
offered Hinojosa a bribe if he would cut him off by 
assassination or poison. All this was of no avail, 
the good Gasca was too much respected, to be de- 
serted for the execrable Pizarro. 

Finding that l^must resign his authority, if Gasca 
should prevail, Pizarro declared war against him. 
The fleet was already devoted to Gasca, and soldiers 
flocked to him from Carthagena and Nicaragua. 
Numbers previously under command of Pizarro, and 
among them several officers of distinction, abandon- 
ed his cause, because he refused to submit to the 
authority of the king. 

After several actions between these adversaries, 
a final battle established the power of Gasca, and 
terminated the life of Pizarro. 

Gasca, happy in his victory, did not stain it with 
cruelty. Pizarro, Carvajal, and a small number of 
the most distinguished offenders, were punished 
capitally. Pizarro was beheaded on the day after 
he surrendered. 

The peaceable government of law was put into 
operation by the benevolent Gasca ; and after two 
years of vigilant administration, having done all that 
could be done to bring the disorderly Spaniards 
under wise regulations, and having saved a large 



1 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 247 ' 

I 



amount of treasure for the crown, he committed the 
government to the Court of Audience, and returned 
to Spain in 1550. 

Gasca was received in Spain with universal admi- 
ration of his abihties and his virtue. This good man 
was treated by the emperor with the most distin- 
guishing marks of esteem, and being promoted to the 
bishopric of Palencia, passed the remainder of his 
days in the tranquilhty of retirement, respected by 
his countrymen, honoured by his sovereign, and be- 
loved by all. 

Only one of the four Pizarros, Ferdinand, sur- 
vived the other brothers ; and he, for having con- 
nived with them in their violence and oppression, 
was imprisoned in Spain, and sp^^nt twenty years in 
confinement. I have thus brought to a period the 
Spanish conquests in America, as they regard the 
two most considerable nations of that continent. 
The guilt and misery which they exhibit, have been 
followed by little national happiness or improvement. 

" Men less enterprising, less desperate, and more 
accustomed to move in the path of sober and peace- 
able industry, than those who first emigrated thither, 
settled in Peru ; and the royal authority was gra- 
dually established as firmly there as in the other 
Spanish colonies." The government established in 
Peru, resembled that of Mexico, and affords in its 
progressive history, many resemblances to revolu- 
tions in other states of Spanish America. The con- 
fusion which yet prevails in Mexico, exists every 
where in the political affairs of South America. 

American history is far from being exhausted in 
the details of two little volumes ; and I hope to be 
able in a few months, to furnish my young readers 
with another, and may it be a better, from the same 
fund of instruction and entertainment. 



QUESTIONS 



FOR EXAMINATION OF YOUNG PERSONS INSTRUCTED IN THE 
PRECEDING HISTORY. 

■ ■■i » Q tB4«i*— 

CHAPTER I. 

as. Page. 

1 9 How did the King of Portugal regard the discoveries of Co- 

lumbus, and who first explored the western coast of Africa"? 

2 — Why did not Diaz prosecute his discoveries further 7 

3 10 Who first doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and what did that 

navigator observe of the eastern Africans ? 

4 — How do the Portuguese nation regard the discoveiy of the 

Cape of Good Hope ? 

5 11 How does Camoens describe the fleet of De Gama? 

6 — When did De Gama return from India? 

7 — Did Columbus and De Gama perform distinguished services 

to mankind ? 

8 12 In what undertaking was Cabral employed? 

9 — What discovery did Cabral make ? 

10 -•- In what respects was Orando a wise governor? 

11 13 Who succeeded Ferdinand II. King of Spain? 

12 — What effect had the treatment of the Spaniards upon the 

Indians ? 

13 — Who were employed as substitutes for the Indians in the 

West Indies ? 

14 14 Who circumnavigated Cuba, and who discovered Yucatan? 

15 — How did the King of Spain treat Don Diego Columbus? 

16 15 Who established the first European colony on the continent 

of America? 

17 — What was the character of Vasco Nugnez de Balboa? 

18 — What circumstance disposed Balboa to explore the Isthmus 

of Darien ? 

19 16 What was the first information given to the Spaniards con- 

cerning Peru ? 

20 — . What are the features of the isthmus? 

21 — With what force did Balboa commence his journey over the 

isthmus ? 

22 17 What emotions did the first sight of the Southorn Ocean ex- 

cite in the mind of Balboa ? 

23 — What further intelligence did Balboa obtain of Peru ? 

24 — What induced Balboa to return to Santa Maria ? 

25 — Did the people of Spain rejoice at thediscovery of the South- 

ern Ocean? 

26 18 What reception did Balboa give to Pedrarias? 

27 — How did the friends of Balboa regard the appointment of 

Pedrarias ? 



<iUESTI >NS. 



Oa. P»ee. 

28 19 How did Pedrarias treat Balboa ? 

29 — What was the condition of the colony under Pedrarias? 

30 — What measures did Pedrarias take to relieve the coloni&1;3, 

and what was their conduct ? 

31 — How did Balboa regard' Pedrarias ? 

32 — What amends did the King of Spain make to Balboa for his 

injustice ? 

33 20 How did Pedrarias further manifest his ill-will to Balboa ? 

34 — What was the end of Balboa, and what became of the colony 

of Santa Maria? 

CHAPTER XL 

35 21 Under whose government was Cuba settled, and what was 

the effect of European colonization upon the Indians? 

36 — Who was the first governor of Cuba, and how was that island 

subdued ? 

37 22 Who resisted the landing of the Spaniards, and what was the 

fate of that chief? 

38 — What notion had Velasquez of the character of Hatuey ? 

39 — How did Hatuey conduct himself at the time of his execution ? 

40 — What effect did the violent death of Hatuey produce upon the 

Indians ? 

41 23 Who discovered Florida, and what disposed the discoverer to 

undertake that enterprise ? 

42 — Did the colony of Cuba flourish under Velasquez, and what 

expedition did he fit out ? 

43 — What happened to Cordova at Yucatan ? 

44 24 Did Velasquez fit out another expedition, and what'course did 

it take ? 

45 — What country did Grijalva discover, and what name did he 

give it ? 

46 — What information did Grijalva obtain concerning the country 

which he discovered, and when did he return to Cuba ? 

47 25 What measures did Velasquez take in consequence of the 

intelligence he received of New Spain ? 

48 — What was the progress of discovery upon the western con- 

tinent in twenty-six years ? 

49 — With what habits of mind must young persons read history, 

and how will the humane heart regard the conduct of the 
Spaniards in America? 

50 26 Did Velasquez meditate the conquest of the new countries, 

and why did he think it justifiable? 

61 — Who was the man selected by Velasquez to follow the course 

which Grijalva had taken? 

62 27 What were the leading circumstances m the life of Cortez ? 

63 — Did'the character of Cortez command respect ? 

64 — Did Velasquez endeavour to deprive Cortez of the command 

which he had bestowed upon him ? 

65 28 With what equipment did Cortez set out for New Spain? 
56 — Whom did Cortez find at the island of Cozumel? 



QUESTIONS. 3 



as. Page. 

37 29 How did the Mexicans regard the Spaniards when they firs 

saw them ? 

38 — What opinion did Montezuma form of the Spaniards ? 

59 — Did Grijalva receive any message from Montezuma? 

60 30 Did the Mexicans give Cortez a cordial reception? 

61 -- Did Cortez bring the Mexicans of the coast under subjection? 

62 — What arms did me Indians use in their warfare ? 

63 — Were the chiefs and their men arrayed alike? 

64 31 Of what musical instruments did the Indians make use, and 

how did they commence their combats ? 

65 32 WJiat young girl was presented to Cortez? 

66 — Was Marina's history extraordinary ? 

67 — How did Marina exhibit uncommon talent and excellent dis 

positions ? 

68 33 How did the Spaniards treat Marina ? 

69 — How did Marina treat her mother and brother ? 

70 — Did Cortez leave Tabasco? 

71 — When Cortez arrived at the place, now the site of VeraCrur, 

had he an interview with the natives ? 

CHAPTER III. 

72 34 Who paid Cortez a visit at the harbour where he staVioned 

himself ? 

73 — What speech did Cortez make to the Mexican lords? 

74 — What reply did Teutile make to Cortez? 

75 35 What presents did the Mexicans make to the Spaniards, and 

how were the Mexicans treated by the Spaniards ? 

76 — Did Teutile make a second visit to the Spaniards ? 

77 J6 How was Montezuma affected by the arrival of the Spaniards? 

78 — Did the Mexicans send more presents to the Spaniards ? 

79 — What address did the Mexican ambassador make to Cortez? 

80 37 What were the gifts brought by the ambassador to Cortez? 

81 — Were the Spaniards pleased with the presents made to 

them ? 

82 38 Did the Mexican king invite Cortez to pay him a visit? 

83 — Was Cortez vexed at Montezuma's message ? 

84 — Did Teutile bring to the Spanish camp a present for the king 

of Spain ? 

85 — What is the effect of avarice upon the minds of men? 

86 39 Had the Spaniards any rehgious motives in their intercourse 

with the Mexicans / 

87 — Upon what occasion did the Spaniards offer the Indians reli- 

gious instructions, and what were those instructions ? 

88 40 How did it appear that the Mexicans became enemies of the 

Spaniards ? 

89 — Who paid an unexpected visit to the Spanish camp? 

90 41 From what city did these visiters come, and on whom were 

they dependants ? 

91 — Was Cortez gratified to meet with enemies of the Mexicans? 

92 — Did Cortez accept the invitation of the Chenipoallese ? 



QUESTIONS. 



Os. Page. 

93 41 Did the adherents of Cortez willingly accompany him to 

Chempoalla ? 

94 42 What new regulations were made in the Spanish camp ? 

95 43 What reception was given to Cortez near Chempoalla? 

96 — What was the condition of the city of Chempoalla ? 

97 — Were the Spaniards hospitably entertained at Chempoalla 1 

98 44 What description did Cortez give the lord of Chempoalla of 

the king of Spain, and of his own enterprise ? 

99 — Did the lord of Chempoalla appear grateful to Cortez? 

100 45 What account of the Mexicans did the lord of Chempoalla 

give, and what favour did he ask of Cortez ? 

101 — Did Cortez make any promises to the Chempoallese lord? 

102 — Who attended Cortez to perform any labour he might require? 

103 — Whither did Cortez next go, and what happened itt Chi-a- 

huitz-la ? ' ^ 

104 46 What measure did Cortez recommend to the dependent 

Jords? 

105 47 Of what deceitful act was Cortez guilty in respect to the lords 

of Chempoalla a.r>.d Chi-a-huitz-la ? 

CHAPTER IV. 

106 47 Did Cortez liberate all the Mexican collectors ? 

107 48 When did Cortez commence a settlement ? 

108 — Did Montezuma sex.'* his nephews to visit Cortez? 

109 — Did the Totonacas and otlter people near the coast join to 

furnish an army to Cortez ? 

110 49 In what rash manner did Cortez introduce Christianity among 

the Chempoallese? 

111 50 In what manner did the Chempoallese chief vindicate the 

religion of his nation ? 

112 — How did Cortez further express his enthusiasm in respect to 

religion ? 

113 — Did the Chempoallese resist the violence of Cortez? 

114 — What services did Cortez introduce into the Chempoallese 

temples ? 

115 51 What favor did Cortez request of the Emperor Charles? 

116 — What presents did the followers of Corlez make to the Em- 

peror, and what did their liberahty manifest ? 

117 — What expedient did Cortez adopt to prevent the desertion 

of his followers ? and when did he set out for Mexico ? 

118 — Whom did Cortez first encounter? 

119 52 Did the lord of Xocotla bestow any gold upon Cortez? 

and how did he treat the Spanish general ? 

120 — Did Cortez obtain any gifts, and towards what territory did 

he proceed ? 

121 53 What was the character of the Tlascalans ? 

122 :— Under what political institution did the Tlascalans live ? 

123 — What prepossessions had been given to the Tlascalans in 

respect to the Spaniards ? 

124 — Did Cortez send envoys to the senate of Tlascala? 



QUESTIONS. 



da. Page. 

125 34 What reception did the lords of TIascala give the envoys of 

Cortez ? 

126 — What speech did one of the envoys address to the Tlascalan 

senate ? 

127 55 What account did the envoy give of the rehgion of the Span- 

iards ? and what disposition did he impute to Cortez ? 

128 — What advice did the envoy offer the Tlascalans ? 

129 — What reply did the Tlascalans make to the envoys ? 

130 — What opinion did the chief of the Tlascalan senators express 

in respect to the Spaniards '/ 

131 56 Did all the senators agree in their judgments ? 

132 — Who determined the Tlascalan senate how to act? 

133 57 What immoral practice is allowed in the warfare of all 

nations ? 

134 — Which is the most efficient, the power of the mind, or of the 

body? 

135 — What caused the defeat of the Tlascalans? and what effect 

did these disturbances produce upon Montezuma ? 

136 58 What further measures were taken by the Mexican King in 

respect to Cortez ? 

137 — Did the Spaniards and Tlascalans make peace with each 

other ? 

138 — Who was the messenger of the Tlascalans, and what were 

his overtures to Cortez? 

139 59 Did Cortez accept the concessions of the Tlascalans, and did 

he receive ambassadors from other nations ? 

140 — Who paid Cortez a visit, and how did he receive them? 

141 — Did the adherents of Cortez willingly accompany him to the 

city^of TIascala ? 

142 60 What is Clavigero's description of the entry into TIascala ? 

CHAPTER V. 

143 60 Who restrained Cortez from destroying the Tlascalan idols? 

144 61 What answer did the Tlascalans make to the arguments of 

Cortez in respect to religion? 

145 — Did Cortez produce any reform in the superstitious practices 

of the Tlascalans ? 

146 — What information did Cortez obtain in respect to the king- 

dom of Mexico? 

147 — What passed between Cortez and the Cholulan envoys? 

148 62 What account have Cortez, and the historian Clavigero 

givenof Cholula. 

149 — To what god was Cholula consecrated, and how did the Cho- 

lulans conduct themselves in respect to the Spaniards ? 

150 63 How was Marina instrumental to the preservation of the 

Spaniards ? 

151 — In what manner did Marina receive the good offices of a 

Cholulan woman? 

152 — Of what did Marina's Cholulan friend inform her, and how 

did Cortez receive that information ? 

22 



6 QUESTIONS. 



(is. Pago. 

153 63 How did Cortez and the Cholulans mutually endeavour to de- 

ceive each other ? 

154 64 What happened on the morning of Cortez's intended de- 

parture ? 

155 — What address did Cortez make to the Cholulans ? 

156 65 What was the next measure of Cortez, and Vfhat conse- 

quence followed it ? 
15 — What use did Cortez make of his victory ? 

158 66 What is the present appearance of Cholula? 

159 — How did the governor of Nauhtlan maintam the authority of 

Montezuma ? 

160 — On what occasion was Juan de Escalente killed ? 

161 67 Did Montezuma persevere in requiring Cortez to desist from 

approaching Mexico? 

162 — How did Montezuma await the coming of Cortez ? 

163 — What counsel did Montezuma seek in regard to the reception 

of the Spaniards ? 

164 68 Did the forces of Cortez augment as he advanced towards 

Mexico ? 

165 — Who came out to meet Cortez near the lake Chalco? 

166 — In what manner did Cortez and the king of Tezcuco meet? 

167 69 How did the king of Tezcuco remonstrate with Cortez? 

168 — What reply did Cortez make to the king of Tezcuco'^ 

169 — How did the king of Tezcuco take leave of Cortez? 

170 70 Where was the city of Cuit-la-hu-ac? what was its appear- 

ance, and how was Cortez received there? 

CHAPTER VI. 

171 71 What was the kingdom of Mexico, and where was the capital? 

172 — What lakes occupy a large portion of the vale of Mexico? 

173 — What cities were on and near the lake Tezcuco, and what is 

the present population of that region ? 

174 — Did the Mexicans exhibit any capability of improvement ? 

175 — How do the Mexicans compare with other nations? 

176 72 Who were presumed to be the ancestors of the Mexicans? 

177 — What progress did the emigrants to Mexico make in civili- 

zation ? 

178 73 Whence did the Atzecas take the name of Mexicans, and 

when was the foundation of the city of Mexico laid ? 

179 — What was the progress of political government in Mexico? 

180 — Did Cortez tind the Mexicans disposed to submit themselves 

to the Spanish domination ? 

181 74 What particulars has Clavigero given of the state of Monte- 

zuma — of the homage paid to him — of the arrangements of 
his table — his appearance abroad — his palace — his mena- 
geries — dwarfs, &c. — his personal habits ? 

182 78 What was the religion of the Mexicans? 

183 — How does Clavigero describe the great temple of Mexico? 

184 79 What were the observances of the Mexicans in respect to 

the dead? 



QUESTIONS. 



Oa. Pase. 

185 80 What paintings, writings, cloth and paper were found In 

Mexico ? 

186 81 How was the population of Mexico divided, and what was 

the tenure of property? 

187 — How was government supported ? 

188 — Was the king of Mexico a paternal or tyrannical governor? 

189 — In -what manner was a king appointed ? 

190 82 What was the management of children among the Mexicans, 

and how were infants treated ? 

191 — Was any ceremony resembling baptism practised by the 

Mexicans ? 

192 83 What part in this ceremony did the nurse take? 

193 — What prayer concluded this ceremony? 

194 — To what gods were infants commended, and what names 

were given them among the Mexicans ? 

195 84 What moral and physical habits were inculcated by parents 

upon children? 

196 — Was the profession of a parent ordinarily continued by his 

child amoncfthe Mexicans? 

197 85 In what religrous and moral sentiments were the Mexican 

children educated ? 

198 — What actions did the Mexicans regard as marks of ill 

breeding ? 

199 — Were liberality, modesty, and humility commended among 

the Mexicans ? 

200 — What did parents tell their children that happiness depend- 

ed on ? 

201 86 What was a mother's advice to her daughter? 

202 — What maxims were recommended by mothers ? 

203 — What domestic virtues were taught, and what consequences 

were attached to virtue and vice ? 

204 — Were the sexes educated according to their respective abili- 

ties ? 

205 87 What religious services did young persons perform ? 

206 — What was the character of the Mexican poetry and oratory? 

207 — What poetry is produced in an early stage of national civi- 

lization ? 

208 88 How does Cla\'igero describe a small theatre in Mexico ? 

209 — Did the Mexican actors imitate animals? 

210 89 What musical instruments did the Mexicans use ? 

211 — How was the Mexican drum used ? 

212 — Was dancing practised by the Mexicans ? 

213 90 What public games were practised among the Mexicans ? 

214 — When were the Hyers exhibited? 

215 91 What disguises did the Hyers assume, and how perform their 

evolutions ? 

216 — What feat concluded the exhibition ? 

217 92 By what modes of industry did the Mexicans ordinarily 

subsist? 

218 — How was trade carried on in the Mexican dominions? 



QUESTIONS. 



tU. Page. 

219 92 What money was in use among the Mexicans? 

220 93 What accommodations were provided for travellers 

221 — What sort of bridges were constructed in Mexico? 

222 — Who carried burdens ? 

223 94 What edge tools were in use among the Mexicans ? 

224 — What religion prevailed in Mexico ? 

225 — What benefit has resulted from the conquest of Mexico? 

CHAPTER VII. 

226 95 On what day did Cortez first enter Mexico, and what was 

his reception ? 

227 — With what feelings did Cortez enter Mexico? 

228 — In what style did Montezuma meet Cortez? 

229 96 What mutual respect did Montezuma and Cortez display? 

230 — How did the inhabitants of Mexico receive Cortez? 

231 97 What habitation was assigned to Cortez? 

232 — What accommodations were afforded to the Spaniards? 

233 98 What presents and professions did Montezuma make to 

Cortez? 

234 — What explanations of Christianity did Cortez make to the 

king of Mexico, and how did he receive them? 

235 99 Did Cortez immediately proceed to the conquest of Mexico ? 

236 — What quarrel did Cortez seek with Montezuma ? 

237 — Of what did Cortez accuse the governor of Nauhtlan? 

238 100 What foolish reply did Montezuma make to Cortez, and 

what proposal did Cortez make to him ? 

239 — What threat was made to Montezuma ? 

240 101 Were the Mexicans a pusillanimous people? 

241 . — Did Montezuma permit himself to be imprisoned by Cortez ? 

242 102 What treatment did Q,uah-po-po-ca receive ? 

243 103 Did the Spaniards exert a vigilant superintendance over 

Montezuma ? 

244 104 What treatment did Montezuma and his family receive 

from Cortez? 

245 105 Did Cortez receive a commission from Spain ? 

246 106 Did Cortez cause the provinces of the Mexican empire to 

be explored? 

247 107 What further submission did Cortez exact from Montezuma? 

248 — Did Montezuma readily comply with the demands of Cortez? 

249 — Did the subjects of Montezuma deplore his degradation ? 
260 108 Did Cortez admonish the Mexicans to acquiesce in his 

requirements ? 

251 — What further demands did Cortez make ? 

252 109 With what dispositions did the governor of Cuba regard 

Cortez at this time ? 
263 — What measures to restrain Cortez did Velasquez *Qopt? 

254 110 What reception did Cortez give to Narvaez? 

255 — What use did Cortez make of his victory? 

256 — What happened in Mexico during the absence ofCorl/,z? 

257 — What displeasure against the Mexicans did Cort jz affict? 



QUESTIONS. 9 



Os. Page. 

258 111 What punishment did Cortez inflict upon the Mexicans, 

and how did the Mexicans resist Cortez ? 

259 — Did Montezuma interpose — how did they receive his ex- 

postulation, and how manifest their displeasure ? 

260 112 When Montezuma fell, were his subjects distressed? 

261 — Did Cortez persevere in his warfare? 

262 113 What was the result of this enterprise? 

263 — What is signified by Noche Triste ? 

264 114 To what place did Cortez retreat? 

265 — What were the sufferings of the Spaniards on the retreat 

to Tlascala ? 

266 — Did the Mexicans pursue the flight of the Spaniards ? 

267 115 What occurred near Otumba? 

268 — What ensign was carried by the Mexican army ? 

269 — Did Cortez resolve to take the standard, and was it seized? 

270 116 Was a memorable victory achieved by the Spaniards near 

Otumba ? 

271 — How did the Tlascalans receive the Spaniards ? 

272 117 When did Cortez again march against the city of Mexico? 

CHAPTER VIII. 

273 117 What event established Cortez in New-Spain ? 

274 118 Through what tract of country did Cortez carry his 

conquest ? 

275 — What was the position of Mexico, and the neighbouring cities'? 

276 — Why did Cortez cause small vessels to be constructed? 

277 119 Who transported the ships? 

278 — How did Cortez persuade the tributaries of Mexico to yield 

to him ? 

279 — Did any king succeed Montezuma? 

280 120 How did Quetlavaca remonstrate with the rebels ? 

281 — Who succeeded Quetlavaca? 

282 121 How did the preparations of Cortez proceed ? 

283 — What circumstances attended the launching of the brig- 

antines ? 

284 — How were the brigantines armed and commanded ? 

285 122 Did the siege of Mexico occasion great destruction of life? 

286 — In what spirit did the Indians defend themselves? 

287 — Did Cortez become discouraged by delay ? 

288 123 Did Guatamozin lose courage during the siege? 
269 — Was the life of Cortez often in danger ? 

290 — Did Cortez display great perseverance ? 

291 — Did Guatamozin exhibit equal firmness of purpose ? 

292 — What disasters and distresses conduced to the redaction of 

the city ? 

293 124 Did the Indian allies perform important services to the 

Spaniards in the demolition of Mexico, and how did the 
natives regard their rebellion ? 

294 — Did Cortez manifest any relenting of purpose in the pro- 

gress of the siege of Mexico ? 
22* 



10 QUESTIONS. 



Us. fage. / 

296 125 How did the natives receive proposals to surrender th^ir 
city ? 

296 126 In their last extremity, how did the Indians sustain them- 

selves ? 

297 — What pathetic appeal did the Indians make to Cortez? 

298 — Did the Indians exert themselves to preserve the life of 

Guatamozin 1 

299 127 Who intercepted the flight of Guatamozin ? 

300 — By whom was Guatamozin accompanied when he surren- 

dered his person? 

301 — What did Guatamozin request on that occasion? 

302 — How did Holguin treat his prisoners, and what was the ad- 

dress of Guatamozin to Cortez? 

303 128 What hollow professions did Cortez make to the Mexican 

king? 

304 — What was the appearance of the Mexicans when they de- 

parted from their city ? 

305 129 How was the whole Mexican empire gradually subdued ? 

306 — Did the spoil taken by the Spaniards equal their expecta- 

tions ? 

307 — On what day was the city of Mexico taken by the Spaniards, 

and what fact recorded in history has been compared with 
the siege of Mexico ? 

308 130 How did Cortez fulfil his promises to the Mexican king? 

309 — Is it known how many victims were annually offered as 

sacrifices in the Mexican dominions ? 

310 — Have truly Christian principles governed the policy and 

conduct of the Spaniards in America? 

311 131 Is the ambition of monarchs at the present time restricted 

to narrower limits than in former ages? 

312 — Of what is true glory and national honour found to consist ? 

CHAPTER IX. 

313 — Did the Spaniards pursue further conquests in America? 

314 132 Did Cortez act under a royal commission, and who inter- 

fered with his plans ? 

315 — How did Fonseca regard the achievements of Cortez, and 

how was Cortez treated by order of Fonseca? 

316 133 Did Tapia assume the direction of the affairs in New 

Spain ? 

317 — Did Cortez succeed in obtaining a commission fi'ora the 

emperor? 

318 — In the mean time, how did Cortez proceed in the establish- 

ment of the Spanish dominion in New Spain ? 

319 134 Did the natives at all oppose the progress of the Spanish 

conquerors in America? 
820 — Of what use is it to exhibit the examples of bad men, in 

history ? 
321 135 Under whose influence was the condition of the Indians in 

Spanish America improved ? 



QUESTIONS. 11 



Os. Page. 

322 133 Have all the natives of the conquered countries ever been 

subject to the Spaniards ? 

323 — What is the meaning of the word conscription ? 

324 — What w^as the mita, and was that service willingly ren- 

dered ? 

325 136 Are the mines in America still wrought by compulsory 

labour ? 

326 — Were the Indians the only sufferers in the conquest and 

colonisation of Spanish America? 

327 137 Did Cortez continue to prosper? 

328 — Who misrepresented the character of Cortez, and what 

were his virtues ? 

329 — How did Cortez appear at the court of Spain? 

330 138 How was Cortez received in Spain? 

331 — On what account did Cortez desire to be vindicated, and 

how far was he successful ? 

332 — How was the authority of Cortez in New Spain limited, and 

who was the first viceroy in New Spain ? 

333 139 What is the conclusion of the history of Cortez? 

334 — When did Cortez die, and under what circumstances? 

333 — Are there any resemblances between Columbus and Cor- 
tez, and what traits in the character of Cortez are worthy 
to be imitated ? 

CHAPTER X. 

336 140 Was the form of government uniform in all Spanish Ame- 

rica? 

337 — What countries were included in the viceroyalty of New 

Spain? 

338 141 What other viceroyalties were afterwards created ? 

339 — What state did a viceroy maintain ? 

340 — What was the extent of a viceroy's function ? 

341 142 What court might impeach a viceroy, and who governed 

sometimes in his place ? 

342 — What established the rights of individual property in newly- 

conquered countries dependent upon Spain ? 

343 — What restrictions were laid upon trade in the Spanish 

colonies ? 

344 L43 Did Spain prosper in consequence of her arbitrary pohcy 

in relation to New Spain ? 

345 — What distinction was soon created among the settlers in 

New Spain, and what was burdensome to the community? 

346 — What is the ecclesiastical establishment of a country, and 

what was that of New Spain? 

347 144 What sort of edifices are the churches of New Spain? 

348 — What are the different classes of inhabitants in Mexico? 

349 145 According to what law was labour performed in the Spanish 

settlements ? 

350 — Did the emperor make any humane laws in respect to the 

Indians ? 



12 QUESTIONS. 



Us. Page. 

851 145 By what provision are magistrates in every country main- 
tained ? 

352 — What was required of the Indians as citizens in the Spanish 
colonies ? 

S53 146 What is the condition of the Indians in their own villages ? 

354 — Did the wrongs done to the Indians in the Spanish colonies 

originate in individuals or the laws ? 

355 — How has Dr. Robertson described the condition of some of 

the Indians ? 

CHAPTER XL 

356 147 In two hundred and eighty years how many A-iceroys ruled 

in New Spain, and what did the public feehng become in 
regard to their government ? 

357 — What was enacted, according to the laws of the Indies, in 

respect to the natives of New Spain, and how was that 
law observed ? 
368 148 What was the general character and principles of the vice- 
roys of Mexico? 

359 — What created ill-will between Spaniards and Creoles ? 

360 — What is political liberty ? 

361 149 What causes contributed to perpetuate ignorance and po- 

verty in New Spain ? 

362 — How long did the colonists in Mexico suffer from the mis- 

government of Old Spain ? 

363 150 What is the Hacienda del Jarall 

364 — What appearance do the great landholders make in Mex- 

ico? 

365 — Do the t':reat proprietors exhibit much concern for their 

dependants ? 

366 151 What are the Indians of the cities called, and what are 

their employmenis ? 

367 — What are the most lamentable circumstances of tlie moral 

condition of the Mexicans ? 

368 — Into what parties was the white population of Mexico 

divided in 1810? 

369 152 What circumstance in the political state of Spain offered 

an opportunity to emancipate themselves to the Spanish 
colonists ? 

370 — How did Bonaparte act in relation to Spain, and how were 

his encroachments repelled ? 

371 — In consequence of the state of affairs in Spain, what mea- 

sures were taken by the viceroy in Mexico ? 

372 153 How was Iturrigaray treated, and who succeeded him? 

373 — Under what leaders were hostilities commenced between 

the royaUsts and patriots ? 

374 — What did Hidalgo gain by the surrender of Guanaxuato ? 

375 154 How did the cause of the patriots continue to prosper? 

376 — How was the good fortune of Hidalgo terminated ? 

377 — What was the fate of the first patriot commanders ? 



QUESTIONS. 13 



as. Puce. 

378 155 Who after the death of Hidalgo succeeded to the command 

of the patriot forces ? 

379 — .Vhere was a constitution framed by the patriots ? 

380 — Who was appointed viceroy at this time? 

381 — Did the Congress and Morelos agree in their projects? 

382 156 Who was Metamoros, and what was his end ? 
883 — When and where was Morelos shot '? 

384 — Who was General Mina ? 

383 157 Did the Spanish nation resist the encroachments of Bo- 

naparte ? 

386 — How was the Cortes chosen in Spain? 

387 — In what manner did Ferdinand VII. meet the expectations 

of the constitutionalists in Spain ? 

388 158 On what account did Xavier Mina abandon his studies ? 

389 -r- What dangerous service did Mina undertake ? 

390 — Did Mina cut off supplies from the French army in Spain ? 

391 159 What provoked the vengeance of ihe French upon Mina? 

392 — From which of his friencls was Mina separated ? 

393 — What retreat served Pdina for a secure position ? 

394 160 What further su^.-ess rewarded Mina's efforts ? 

395 — What event terminated Mina's career in Spain? 

396 — Where was Mina imprisoned and when set at liberty ? 

397 151 Did Ferdinand VII. esteem Mina? 

398 — Why did Mina accept an appointment from Ferdinand? 

399 — Why did Ttlina leave Spain, and whither did he go ? 

400 162 How was Mina treated in England? 

401 — Why did INIina visit the United States ? 

402 — With what force did Mina march to Sombrero ? 

403 163 To whom did Mina oifer his services ? 

404 — Was Mina well informed in respect to the merits of the 

people in whose cause he engaged? 

405 — What was the character of the officers in the patriot army 

of Mexico ? 

406 — Was the commander of the patriot army a victorious man? 

407 164 What letter did Torres write to his brothers? 

408 — How did Torres preserve his authority Virith the officers of 

his army? 

409 165 Was Mina mortified when he learned the character of the 

patriot army ? 

410 — Did Mina succeed at all against the royalists in Mexico ? 

411 156 Did any cordial union subsist between Mina and Torres ? 

412 — What distress increased the horrors of the siege of Som- 

brero ? 

413 1 67 What was the effect of thirst upon the garrison of Sombrero? 

414 — In what manner did Mina comfjrt the distressed people ? 

415 — What aggravated the sufferings of the garrison of Sombrero? 

416 168 Was the garri-on of Sombrero at length r^slieved ? 

417 — Did Mm a obth a possession of the city of Guaaaxuato? 

418 — Where did Mina take refuge after his defeat? 

419 169 Was Don Mariano Herrera a sufferer by the revolution? 



14 QUESTIONS. 



Os. Page. 

420 169 Did Herrera repair his losses? 

421 — Did Mina take proper precautions for his own safety ? 

422 — Who gave information to Orrantia of Mina's retreat? 

423 170 Was Mina's person taken by Orrantia's men? 

424 171 How was Mina treated by the royalists ? 

425 — How did Mina sustain himself in his misfortunes? 

426 — Were other patriots besides Mina ezecuted at this time ? 

427 172 What example of domestic virtue is recorded in this place ? 

428 — Where and when was Mina executed ? 

429 — Did Mina's character exhibit praiseworthy traits ? 

430 173 Did Mina possess the virtues that adorn the soldier? 

431 — Might Mina's vii'tues have been better employed ? 

432 — What occured in Mexico in 1822? 

433 174 What plan of government did Iturbide propose? 

434 — Did the people fall readily into Iturbide s plan ? 

435 — Did the Spanish viceroy surrender to Iturbide ? 

436 175 What was the end of Iturbide's government ? 

437 — What was the conclusion of Iturbide's life ? 

CHAPTER XII. 

438 176 What besides pohtical history furnishes a more perfect idea 

of countries ? 

439 — What territories are comprehended in Mexico ? 

440 — What political divisions exist in Mexico ? 

441 177 On what account did the Creoles dislike the Spaniards? 

442 — What law against Spaniards was passed by the Congress 

in Mexico ? 

443 — Have the Indians in Mexico become Catholics ? 

444 — What are the principal towns in Mexico ? 

445 178 Where is Vera Cruz? 

446 — How is Vera Cruz described? 

447 — What supplies the place of scavengers to Vera Cruz ? 

448 — Where is Xalapa ? 

449 179 What enlivens the jourrey from Vera Cruz to Xalapa? 

450 — What may be seen on the road to Xalapa, and in that city? 

451 180 Are the Creoles in Mexico well informed? 

452 — Are the Mexican people superstitious ? 

453 — What are the favorite amusements of the Mexicans ? 

454 181 In what manner is a bull-fight sometimes commenced? 

455 — How is the bull-fight sometimes concluded ? 

456 182 Do the women in Spanish America display the i«telligence 

and refinement of the females of the United States^ 

457 — What-city is fifty miles from Xalapa? 

458 — How are the houses of Puebla adorned and disposed? 

459 — Is the cathedral of Puebla a splendid building ? 

460 183 Are the services of religion performed in a striking manner? 

461 — V»^hat is the police of Puebla, and how is that city sup- 

ported with the necessaries of life ? 

462 184 In what manufactures do the Mexicans excel? 

463 — Where is the pyramid of ChoJula? 



Q,tJESTIONS. 15 



Os. Page. 

464 184 Are there any volcanoes in Mexico? 

465 185 What appearance does the city of Mexico first offer to the 

traveller ? 

466 — Are the houses in Mexico adapted to the cHmate ? 

467 186 How are the fronts—interior— and roof of the houses finished? 

468 187 Is the former luxury of houses still in use? 

469 — Is the cathedral of Mexico magnificent ? 

470 — How are seats in churches occupied in Mexico ? 

471 — Are monuments in honour of the dead common in Mexico ? 

472 188 Are the public spectacles imposing ? 

473 — What are the public buildings? 

474 — Who was the founder of the hospital of Jesus? 

475 189 How is the Alameda described, — and the Passeo ? 

476 — How do the Indians in the vicinity of Mexico appear? 

477 190 How is an Indian village described ? 

478 191 How is the market of Mexico supplied? 

479 — Do the Indians exhibit hospitality ? 

480 — Are the necessaries of life abundant in Mexico? 

481 — Do women navigate the boats of the lake Chalco? 

482 192 Are the Indians courteous in their behaviour ? 

483 — Does the market afford an animating sight? 

484 — Do the Indians sell their manufactures ? 

485 — What marks of civilization do they exhibit ? 

486 193 How do the Indians construct houses — and how do they 

furnish them ? 

487 — What people in Europe resemble the Mexican Indians ? 

488 194 What are the principal curiosities in Mexico — how many 

monks and nuns are there, and what is the dress of tho 
common pec ole ? 

489 — What is related of Tezcuco? 

490 195 What did the first Bishop of Mexico in Tezcuco ? 

491 — Where is Otumba ? 

492 — What are the most remarkable curiosities in the valley of 

Mexico ? 

493 196 Did the Spaniards destroy Mexican monuments? 

494 — How are men sometimes employed in Mexico ? 

495 197 How is water distributed? 

496 — Do the Mexicans dress in the European fashion ? 

497 — How do the ladies dress, and the country gentlemen? 

498 198 In what article are the Mexicans extravagant? 

499 — Do the Mexicans appear well on horseback ? 

500 — Are the customs of the provinces similar ? 

601 199 Are mules valued in Mexico, and how are they used ? 

602 — How is the aloe described ? 

603 200 Why are the manufactories of New Spain inconsiderable? 

504 — Are the arts likely to advance in Mexico ? 

505 201 Is education general in Mexico ? 

506 — What observation upon the Indian character was made 

in 1823? 

507 202 How is the village of St. Miguel described? 



16 QUESTIONS. 



Us. Page. 

608 202 What reception is afforded to travellers in Mexico? 

509 203 Of what use is candle wood ? 

610 — How do the Indians celebrate the festival of St. Mark? 

611 — Is the appearance of the country agreeable ? 

512 204 What is the most remarkable production of Mexico? 

513 — What is the state of the Mexican mines at present '^ 

4 — How were the mines wrought ? 

5 205 Which are the most productive mines in Mexico ? 

CHAPTER XIII. 

6 ■ — How is Texas described ? 

■ 7 206 Did any tribe of Indians ever resist the Spanish aggressions? 
.8 — Did the Yaquis and Opatas submit patiently to the 

Spaniards ? 
9 207 What example of firmness was once displayed byanOpata? 
;0 — What was the character of Banderas ? 
Jl — Why did Banderas execute certain Spaniards? 
J2 208 What was the letter of Banderas ? 
>3 — Did Banderas regard the memory of his ancestors? 
14 — What district is inhabited by the Yaquis and Mayos ? 
>5 — Who exhorted the Mayos to revolt from the Spaniards, and 
what was his speech to them ? 
526 209 What effect had the exhortation of Banderas ? 
."27 — Was an accommodation effected between Banderas and 
the Mexican government ? 

28 — Are the Yaquis agriculturists ? 

29 210 Whom do the Tiburones resemble ? 

,30 Do the Indians ofthe north of Mexico admit Spanish settlers 

into their territory ? 
•31 — How do those Indians compare themselves and white men? 
632 211 Do Indians ever sell their children? 

533 — Do Indians reverence Catholic priests? 

534 — Do some of the Spanish settlers live very comfortably? 

635 212 How are cattle tended in the woods sometimes ? 

636 213 How is a neat Indian's hut furnished — how did one receive 

a traveller — what account did he give of himself, and how 
do such persons live ? 

CHAPTER XIV. 

537 214 What progress in discovery was made on the American 

continent from 1498 to 1536 ? 

538 215 What sort of man was the youn^ Indian who suggested to 

Balboa the existence of Peru? 

539 — Did Comagre despise the sordidness of the Spaniards? 

540 — Where did Comagre sav that gold was abundant ? 

541 216 When was Balboa determined to Peru ? 

542 — How were Balboa's vessels built ? 

643 217 Who were emploved in this toilsome task? 
544 _ Who endured the" passage of tlie Isthmus with the greatest 
firmness '^ 



QUESTIONS. 



Qa- Page. ~~" ' — -— 

545 218 When did Vasco Nunez first embark on the Pacific "? 

546 — Were Spaniards well fitted for hazardous exploits ? 

547 _ Did Nunez proceed far in his voyage ? 

548 219 What stopped the progress of Balboa? . 

549 — Of what treachery was Garabito guilty'? 

550 _ Who arrested Balboa ? 

551 220 Of what tyrannical act was Pedrarias guilty? 

552 — Did Balboa meet his fate with dignity ? 

553 — Who sutfered with Balboa ? 

CHAPTER XV. 

554 221 What led to the settlement of Panama? 

655 — Who took up the project of conquering Peru?- 

556 222 Who excited the cupidity of Morales and Pizarro? 

557 — Who were Pizarro — Almagro — and De Luque, and whaC 

were their respective appointments? 

558 223 What was the extent of Peru ? 

559 224 Were Pizarro and Almagro separated in the voyage to Peru? 

560 — Did Pizarro and Almagro meet ? 

561 — What appearance did Uie coast of Quito make ? . 

562 — Did the governor of Panama favour Pizarro? 

563 225 How did Pizarro export his men ? 

564 — Did the followers of Pizarro abandon hiro? 

565 — Did Almagro succeed in obtaining assistance ? 

566 226 Where did Pizarro land, and what did he see ? 

567 — What did Pizarro take to Panama, and what was the effect 

of adversity upon him ? 
668 227 Did Pizarro "apply to the Emperor Charles for aid ? 

569 — What plan did Pizarro and his confederates devise for the 

prosecution of his designs? 

570 — How did the Emperor facilitate the projects of Cortez? 

571 228 What officers joined Pizarro? 

572 — What forms the most interesting portion of this history? 

573 — What is the primitive history of Peru ? 
674 — Who were the first civilizers of Peru? 

575 229 What improvements did the Peruvian legislators introduce ? 

576 — Did Manco Capac pretend to be a god — and who were his 

descendants ? 

577 — '.Vhat was the condition of Peru when Pizarro invaded it? 

578 230 Who were the princes who were disputing concerning the 

sovereignty of Peru when Pizarro invaded the k'mgdom ? 

579 — Which of the princes appealed to Pizarro? 

580 231 What part did Pizarro take in the quarrel of the princes? 

CHAPTER XVI. 

581 — At what place did Pizarro arrive in the Peruvian dominions ? 

582 — What reception was given to Pizarro's messengers ? 

683 232 What preparations did Pizarro make to receive Atahualpa? 

584 — How did Atahualpa aopear in Caxamalca? 

685 — Who first saluted Atahualpa, and how? 

586 233 What reply did Atahualpa make to Father Valverde? 

23 



QUESTIONS. ^*^^5 --^FV 



37 233 What was Valverde's rejoinder ? * 

;^8 234 How did Pizarro proceed? .■ 

i89 What effect did the treacherous attack of the Spaniards^:- 

produce upon the Peruvians ? .*| 

590 How many on both sides were killed in this encounter ? i 

'91 How did Atahualpa regard his imprisonment ? i 

92 235 How did the subjects of Atahualpa treat for his ransom ? j^ 

93 — What use was made of the Peruvian gold and silver ? V 
•,94 — Did any of the conquerors of Peru return to Europe? ^ 
595 236 Of what further treachery was Atahualpa guilty ? j 

.98 — . What became of Huascar ? '| 

97 — What increased Pizarro's ill-will to the Inca? -^ 

98 — What diminished the Inca's respect for Pizarro? j 

99 — Under what pretence was the Inca murdered? \ 
■00 237 Did the Peruvians take another king ? 1 
• 01 — Did new adventurers repair to Peru ? j 

')2 — Were all the Spanish adventurers as bad as Pizarro ? i 

: 3 — What grant was made to Almagro ? i 

)4 238 What induced Almagro to give up disputing with Pizarro ? j 

-•')5 — Did Pizarro assume the functions of a legislator? 

(j06 — Did the last of the Incas maintain the sovereignty ? -• 

A07 239 When was Juan Pizarro killed — how did the Peruvian j 

prince regard Ahnagro, and what was his fate? ' 

•:;08 — Did Almagro suffer with fortitude ? , 

?! — Does retribution overtake the wicked ? 

. ) 240 What course did Pizarro now take ? f 

./ — Who reduced Chili — who Quito, and in what other enter- \ 
prise did Gonzalo Pizarro engage? - 

2 — What did Orellano undertake? ' 

', 3 241 Did Orellano aspire to the fame of Pizarro ? . 

^14 — What was the passage of Orellano? 
315 — What fiction did Orellano invent ? : 

616 — Whp.t was the fabulous city of Orellano? 

617 — What effect hadOrellano's'desertion upon Gonzalo Pizarro, i 

and what misfortunes followed? ■ 

618 242 Who was young Almairro? ; 

619 — How was the death of Francisco Pizarro effected ? ; 

620 244 How did laws passed in Spain regulate the colony in Peru? i 

621 — Did Gonzalo Pizarro peaceably submit to the appointments ■ 

of the Emperor Charles ? • ' 

622 — Who was sent to Peru to settle disturbances? j 

623 245 What v/as the character of Gasca ? < 

624 — W\\- was Gasca's commission, and his reception every \ 

waere? 

625 246 Was Pizarro exasperated by the reception of Gasca? 

626 -— Did Pizarro declare war against the President? '■ 

627 -~ What use did Gasca make of victory, and what concludes 

the history of that good man ? ^ 

628 247 What was the end of the Pizarros ? \ 

629 •— Did a happy state of society grow out of tlie Spamsh j 

conquests ? j 



